Flight of Power
by Pallawatsch
Summary: Well, this is my first story, or fanfiction, rather. The universe is always expanding, thus giving way to cosmic mysteries and encounters. This is a story about a character leaving her galaxy for universe she never knew existed.
1. The Prelude

_Author: This Prelude doesn't seem very relevant to the actual series but it plays a part. I hope it'll get you interested!_

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><p><strong>Prelude<strong>

"Are you sure this will work?"

A voice was speaking to another present with him. It echoed aboard a warship down a hallway filled with red, flashing lights. An alarm was sounding around them. The first voice remained alert with his partner.

"I think they're coming. Hurry!" he demanded holding up his firearm.

"I'm almost done," the other male answered. "There. Let's go!"

The two hurried with a rush through a doorway that was breached with a hacking device.

"I see them!" said a well-armored titan from feet behind the two intruders.

The creatures opened fire. There were about eight of them chasing the trespassers down the narrow, discolored passageway. The two hadn't forgotten their mission. They weren't running away, they were running to their problem. A few obstacles presented their ugly heads in the form of heavy brutes on the ship. They fought tooth and nail just to get this far. They weren't going to stop just yet. Get to the Oppressor and kill him—that was the objective. This monster was ruining lives and destroying planets all for his pleasure, all for his lust of power. The two who were running to find him had been forced into his tyranny. Like everyone else who didn't obey it, they wanted their freedom. They wanted to die for it. Only getting it seemed so impossible after all those years under his rule. How does one attempt hold a galaxy alone? He doesn't do it by himself. He doesn't do it with kind words either. He cheats. He cheats with ultimate power at his fingertips and spares those who will follow him and kill for him those who disagree. This monster's weapon was a strong one. It was almost unreal. Regardless, it needed to be destroyed and so he along with it. The things that had happened in such a short amount of time, the planets that were devastated… Nothing could change that. But the two who were running were determined, driven, to terminate and steer the course of this desolate future.

The sound of gun shots and lasers bouncing off of the walls didn't cease for a moment. The reality of it all was intense.

"How much further?" the first voice asked panting as they ran. His long elf-like ears bounced at his head like his rat-like tail did behind him.

"Almost… Quick! Take the exit to the left!"

Immediately, they turned and ran. The soldiers were still following suit behind them.

"Can't we lose them, Uliir?"

"It doesn't matter. I have a feeling by the time we get to Sergua's chamber his battalion will be waiting for us."

"That doesn't really make it better!"

It was a miracle that two aliens like them made it onto Sergua's ship. They had been planning the ambush for months. Lives were sacrificed, however, just to make it close, just to even be within the perimeter. The Oppressor's power was impressive—actually, it was cosmic. They had been here for nearly twenty minutes. Why hadn't the tyrant just blown up his ship? He could care less about those who serve him. He could just flee and destroy his own vessel, eliminating the pests that plagued it. This was the ship which supplied his weapon. Never would he risk something like that. What was the power? Hard to describe. It was a material found on one of the planets it their galaxy. Sergua wanted to mine the planet dry of it when he found out what powers that it held. He did, too. He used the material, which the natives called "Neroltrium", to power machines and armaments. Little doses condensed down to the size of a humanoid pupil were enough to power a small appliance for months or even years. Sergua found a way to make it last for him. He found a way to make the greatest weapon of all—a weapon to wipe out whatever was in his way. That's why it was vital to keep his ship alive.

Uliir's right hand man, Tatrik, would stay by his side no matter what. His home was gone. Everything. Deliverance was way past its due date in his eyes. Uliir was like his brother. He was the only thing he had left to after; the only thing left that would look after him.

Their metal-covered feet brought them to their tyrant's chamber. His door was fried open by tearing through the circuitry in the computer on the wall.

"Oh, you know, you really should've done that before," Tatrik remarked.

"I was saving that device for last," Uliir said holding out the smaller gun he used that looked like it had a satellite dish attached to the end. "Are you ready?"

"Well, I find it strange that no one was here to greet us before his chamber and that those guys from before are coming after us still." The alien sighed but he couldn't keep the coy smile that ran across his lips from surfacing. "Let's kill that son of a bitch."

Uliir nodded with a determined smile. He was proud of his friend. They were ready. They stormed into the large chamber, Sergua's Head Quarters. Inside was extraordinary. It was the weapon that was most immaculate. It took up most of the space in the large room. It was like a large gun, hoisted into the air, suspended on thick, metal cables and glowing with a purple and blue light. That was the effect of the Neroltrium. The power hummed inside the device. But inside wasn't just the devastator alone. Uliir predicted right. The eight gunmen came rushing into the room behind them and in front of them was the battalion. They were uncountable. Their firearms were directed at the two invaders. But where was the Oppressor?

Uliir gritted his teeth and motioned his hand in a swing outward.

"Where is he?" he yelled.

A body covered in machine and circuits stepped forward with a thwarting laugh.

"Oh, Lord Sergua? He'll be arriving in just a minute. We were warming up the cannon while we waited," his voice spoke in sinister tones. "Actually, he had a surprise for you. For all the hard work you've done in the past fourteen months." His small laugh echoed against the walls of the room. "Oh. I think I hear him coming now."

Uliir's ears perked to the sound of heavier footsteps entering the room. His tail swaggered behind him in agitation and anticipation. Their dictator made his way through the groups of parted soldiers only to see Uliir and his companion Tatrik standing there in the center of the chamber. Sergua was not like them. He wasn't of their race—though rather similar on the outside. Whatever was inside was dark and morbid and consumed with greed and chaos. Everything about him could be read by the smile on his face and the glow of his dark eyes. He stood merely a few feet before them for a moment and raising a brow to which he just shook his head and laughed and continued to walk around them.

"You know, I'll give you credit. You've been through my ship. You've seen everything. You've even withstood my men. But that doesn't really matter anymore," he sighed out his words looking at the creation before him. "I designed this thing all on my own. And it worked!" A smile gleamed on his pale, red face. "But I'm pretty sure you two remember the first thing I was able to test it on, right? That small moon on our home planet?" His armored hand touched a part of the cannon which glowed brightly when he did.

Tatrik scoffed at every word that came out of his mouth. It was just bullshit to him. He couldn't stand Sergua. Every time he opened his mouth he felt himself swell inside.

"There was something interesting about the Neroltrium, though. I noticed that through studying it that it was pretty hostile. Or at least, easily agitated. When I operated certain machines around it the Neroltrium would just go berserk and break things or do something else so… so strange. But, oh well." Sergua shrugged and turned back his view to the two renegades. "Like I said, it doesn't matter. I've practically got everything I want. Right here."

"Then what's the point of continuing?" Uliir glared sharply.

"What do you mean? There's a whole universe out there! Which reminds me, I've got something to show you."

The Oppressor signaled a grunt nearby to open some hatches on the walls which revealed their location in space. They were somewhere familiar to Tatrik and Uliir.

"I actually found out where your group has been hiding. I feel so stupid for not even destroying that miserable rock eons ago."

Uliir and his faction were based on a planet that was small and cold. It was furthest from the sun and bore little to no civil life. They were hiding deep within it. Keeping their secrets and plans concealed. At least until now.

"Oh, god…," Tatrik said under his breath. A look of horror was on his face.

"Oh, so you know my surprise?" Sergua laughed lightly. "Well, anyway, I wanted you two to helplessly watch me destroy it. But I think I have a better idea now."

Uliir's eyes widened in confusion and disbelief of the man that stood before him. Sergua didn't seem to notice.

"Mother of God, Sergua! What's wrong with you? What happened to you?" Tatrik yelled out as the dictator moved along to a lift that would take him to the controls of the cannon just above.

"There is nothing wrong with me…" His voice was so chilling and flat. He was out of his mind. "I've been debating something for a while. Remember how I said that there was a whole universe out there? Well, I think I'd like explore it. I think… I think I want… to start over."

"What?" Uliir looked up with perplexed eyes.

"Here's my new surprise," Sergua announced in almost a dead voice.

They felt the ship take a different course—they could even see it out of the exposed windows once covered by the wall. It looked like they were going further and further away from their solar system.

"There are so many stars in our galaxy. There are so many planets I haven't touched here. This solar system of ours has become old and dead."

"Yeah, because of you, you asshole!" Tatrik snapped with a crack in his voice.

"So, you want to get rid of the place you called home? You want to annihilate everything that's left in our solar system? Just so you can start fresh?" Uliir didn't want to believe what he himself was saying. How could he? How could any creature wish such a horrid fate on his own kind? It was all running ramped through the young man's mind. "I think being around so much Neroltrium has made you more insane than you already were."

"Maybe. Or maybe it's helped me realize what I must do."

Their crazed tyrant signaled once again to another worker to steer the ship steady as they could see light years away was the their own sun. That was his plan. He would destroy the sun causing a chain reaction to eradicate everything in their solar system. The distance was far enough to make an escape with the ship remaining intact.

"The cannon's charged to its fullest power, Lord Sergua!" one worker announced at his station near the base of the device.

"Good. Get ready to fire. Countdown in two minutes…"

He slowly spoke each number and as the words fell off of his lips Tatrik screamed in rage at what he was supposed to witness in moments. He didn't want to just stand there and watch weakly at this demented mind. He took out the weapon he had been using since the beginning of their excursion and pointed it up at Sergua who only laughed. But Tatrik didn't shoot at the Oppressor. He immediately focused his gun on an exposed spot of the cannon and opened fire with all that he had. Sparks shot off and the Neroltrium reacted heavily to the lasers. The groups of soldiers standing there returned the fire onto him shooting Tatrik in the lower neck and shoulders. His gun flew from out of his hands and he collapsed onto the ground. The lasers from their guns pierced straight through his armor took off the plating. Uliir only could scream at the witness of his wounded friend.

"Tatrik!" he cried.

But to the fallen rebel his friend's voice was only muffled. Uliir stood at his side and kneeled down to him, picking up his head in his arms and resting it there. He saw the blood leaving his body from the hole that was in his neck. A sickness coursed through him and settled at the pit of his stomach. Tatrik couldn't speak. His lips moved but blood only spilled out and the sound of gargled noise followed. Uliir's eyes filled with tears as he could do no more but just watch his friend die.

"Tatrik…," he spoke in a whisper. "You will never be forgotten…"

"How touching."

A familiar voice chimed in as the distraught Uliir turned his focus up to Sergua with angered eyes. He stood on his two feet and stared with a face that could kill. Even it brought an amused emotion unto Sergua. His interest was removed by a distraction. The cannon that Tatrik had fired upon was leaking liquid Neroltrium and sparking up a storm. The countdown still commenced but it summoned a concerned look about the Oppressor. His fingers were hitting keys frantically to try and shut the weapon down. It was overreacting. Uliir stepped away from the glowing device as did many of the soldiers in the room. The humming sound wasn't steady like it was before. Frankly, it seemed like the thing would explode with all the strange noises that were coming out of it.

"No…!"

Sergua kept pushing buttons on the machine and soon slammed a fist onto the dashboard. He swiftly jumped from the area he was up on and landed near Uliir reaching a hand at his throat and squeezing. The alien coughed and held his hands around his arm to try and pry himself free. The enraged man was much stronger than him it would seem.

"Look what your friend did, Uliir," he said in a hiss with a manic voice. "He damaged my cannon. I didn't even think he had it in him. But now it's not responding. But no matter. It'll fire eventually and super nova our sun and—"

His voice was cut short at a small explosion from the back end of the giant machine. It was falling apart. The piece that ignited flew up into the air and hit through the ceiling of the chamber. The wires melted around it and the Neroltrium shown its purple and blue light as fire and electricity boomed around them. The battalion in the room disobeyed their orders just to save their own lives and began evacuating the premises.

"What're you doing? I command you all to keep your positions!" Sergua shouted dropping Uliir to the ground.

The young man coughed again and stood up breathing heavily.

"No one's going to listen to you anymore, Sergua. Your rule is over. Your plan is ruined and so is your weapon. You and I will die here."

"No!"

He refused to let everything he worked for end like this. Everything he strived for, killed for—it's all nothing. A blast came once more from the cannon and sent the two flying in separate directions. Uliir rolled to an empty control station. His armor was sparking from the damage it took. He could hardly focus or see what was happening in the chamber. The fire and smoke concealed most of the destruction. The Oppressor landed near the entrance way to the spacious room and tried to stand. His eyes widened at the sight before him. An explosion took out the front of the room exposing the area to space and its elements. First he watched some items get sucked into the dark vacuum and then his weapon was pulled out with it all. He too was taken and thrown into space. He couldn't scream. He suffocated long before that. Uliir met the same fate and watched his friend's lifeless body tumble out into space with everything else. The last thing he saw was Tatrik and his friends, his people, those he was fighting for. His last thoughts…

"We're free…"

Moments later a chain explosion ignited the ship and section by section it burned until it finally blew across all corners of space. It was seen from the furthest planets. The glowing Neroltrium cannon still drifted away from the explosion. The element inside was agitated enough to the point of bursting open. Shards of the stuff flew like the Oppressor's ship to god knows where. But that was the last of it that anyone would ever see in this solar system.

When Uliir's faction found out about what had happened they immediately resurfaced on their planet. The oppression and tyranny was over. Whatever soldiers that were left from Sergua's army surrendered or fled. Some of those who worked for him never wanted to in the first place anyway. They gladly took back to their lives as liberated people. Those who witnessed everything on Sergua's ship told the story. It only made some weep for what they learned had happened to Tatrik and Uliir. They were proud. They helped free them. Without their aid and bravery their homes would be nothing. At least for now they could rebuild their future and live without such a nightmare. For now…


	2. An Important Matter

_Author: Now, the good stuff begins..._

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

Light years away and many years passed…

The Polaris galaxy.

Planet Igliak. Meridian City.

"Hey, Clank, could you pass me my wrench?" Ratchet spoke from underneath the ship which he appeared to be fixing. Or modifying…

His hand appeared out from underneath the large vessel opening and closing his fingers, waiting for the tool. Clank walked over to him and handed him the wrench with a sigh.

"Ratchet, are you not finished yet? You have been working on this modification for most of the day." The small robot shrugged out his arms and hands.

"Not quite," the determined Lombax answered with a lag in his words. "I still need to make a few adjustments to this cloaking device and I haven't even taken it out for a test fly to see if it works."

"Why is it so imperative to have a cloaking device?"

"Why?" Ratchet rolled out from under the ship and his expression seemed shocked. "Why? Because it's cool!" He smiled and shrugged his head and resumed his work. "Besides, I've always wanted one."

Clank's metal eyelids spun and blinked as his head slowly shook. His attention was diverted to a large holo-screen outside of the garage which was presenting the news. It seemed like something exclusive by the way the reporter was speaking. His head tilted a bit as he listened in to the newsflash.

"…was stolen from Meridian's National Museum of Science and Archeology moments ago in a hostile takeover and exciting gunfight. The banditos were suspected to be a group of a turncoat pirates from the Phylax Sector. Officials say they are on pursuit of the thieves as we speak. More details to come at seven."

"Hmm." Clank turned his head in question. "Did you hear that, Ratchet? Something was stolen from the National Museum," he said moving closer to the mechanic's work area.

"Something's always getting stolen, Clank."

"Indeed. But it does make me wonder what a group of pirates would want from a museum. I do not remember anything being labeled as valuable to space brigands."

"Brigands?" Ratchet chuckled through his nose and moved out from underneath the ship again to stand on his feet. "Anyway, I think I'm finished," he said standing accomplished with his hands on his hips looking at his vessel.

"I suppose you wish to test it now?" Clank glanced up at his eager friend who was already running to the cockpit. He sighed and followed after him.

Not even seconds later Ratchet's ship was in the air and off up into the sky. He flew the ship towards a body of water, an ocean. His fingers pressed on several buttons on the dashboard in front of him as one hand steered the flight controls. Clank looked at the scenery below and watched as the reflection of the ship began to disappear.

"I suspect that your cloaking unit is fully functional."

"You got that right." Ratchet smiled coyly at his friend and flew about with a howl.

Clank spotted a ship in the distance that was being pursued by what seemed to be the Meridian police.

"I wonder if that is the ship which has the stolen…," he paused to tap a finger on his chin, "whatever was stolen from the museum."

"Wanna find out?"

"I suppose. Yes. Let us sequester this ship."

"That's the right idea," Ratchet smiled boldly and pushed up the throttle

The pirate ship was small but fast. The police that were following it chased up through the atmosphere. For some reason they weren't opening fire, though. Clank noted that observation, stating that whatever they stole must be that valuable that they could risk no damage. The transport seemed to be flying to its mother ship through a nearby asteroid belt. It immediately opened fire on the vessels that were following the stolen cargo. However, Ratchet's ship was still undetected. He kept a distance from the firing and took a different route to the ship.

"The smaller vessel is docking to the mother ship," Clank announced.

The police pulled back after maneuvering through the asteroids. The bigger ship was armed well. It seemed like they had been preparing for something like this.

"These pirates are rather well armed. Perhaps they were planning this heist for a while?" Clank spoke aloud. "Sending transmission to Meridian Police Head Quarters."

Clank's idea was to get the information on what was stolen. Maybe they could locate it on the ship and bring it back. All they needed to know was what exactly they were supposed to look for. Ratchet's vessel meanwhile landed on the side of the pirate ship without being detected. So far, so good.

"Ratchet? Clank? Is that you?" a voice over the transmission spoke. "If you're near that ship, you'd be doing us huge favor by getting that artifact back to the museum."

"Actually, we just happen to be there right now," Ratchet answered back to the voice.

"How did you…? Never mind. Do you know what you're looking for?" he asked.

"Not a clue."

"It's a rare artifact. The scientists or whatever at the museum say that its value is immense, which doesn't surprise me by this situation at the moment. Regardless, they kept telling us at the station that it's imperative we bring it back. Their studies on the object are still underway and they don't want anything to happen to it. I don't know. Something about it being a sensitive type of material. Anyway, it looks like a blue-purplish, sorta, thing, like a ball or big marble."

"We'll see what we can do, Chief."

"Good. Just be careful."

"Roger. Initiating radio silence."

The transmission ended and the two looked out the window from the cockpit. They seemed to be traveling pretty fast.

"Well, let's see how this works out." Ratchet shrugged and went behind his chair to pull out his mask to breath for the small moment they'd be exposed to space's elements. There was an armored suit for him to wear as well. "Glad I saved this," he said as he fitted himself in it. "Alright, Clank, let's go."

The hatch opened on his small ship and his trusty companion immediately linked onto his back. Ratchet hopped out of the vessel and stood on the side of the oversized transport with help of his gravity boots. He scanned the side of the ship with his eyes until he could find a potential spoke to break and enter through. Fortunately, he did manage to find it. He could take off one of the panels with his wrench.

"Let's hope this just doesn't lead us right into the mayhem," he mentioned as he worked off the section.

The thick metal sheet flew off into the void a few minutes later.

"There."

The clever mechanic dropped into one of the rooms. There didn't seem to be anything in it but boxes and crates full of grog or whatever other pirate confections they enjoyed. Ratchet found his way to the door after taking off his mask and pressed a button on the side of the wall to open it. He could hear some pirate robots making their way down the corridor. Seemed to him like they were talking about their apparent victory. His large ears flicked curiously. Maybe they'd give away the whereabouts of this rare artifact. No. They just kept gloating about it. Ratchet left the room quietly and ran down the hallway in search still.

"I'm not exactly sure where I should be going, Clank."

"Perhaps we should locate the captain's quarters of this ship? It may have arrived to him by now."

Ratchet agreed to his little partner's suggestion but sighed through his nostrils.

"Now to locate the captain's quarters."

As Ratchet snuck around the ship he noticed two pirates holding something in thick cloth coming their way. Quickly, he hid in a side room that had a door opened.

"Clank," he whispered, "I think that's it. I think they've got the artifact."

Ratchet listened in to their conversation as they neared. Yeah, that was it! They were carrying whatever they had so delicately. They must have it, then. Their discussion of bringing it to the captain was just like Clank anticipated. Good thing they hadn't brought it just yet.

"We must stop them, Ratchet."

"I'm on it."

Ratchet with overconfidence promptly left the room he hid in letting his presence be known to the pirates steadily making their way down the hall.

"'Ey! What do ye think yer doin' here?" the taller pirate said nearly dropping the item they were carrying.

"Watch it, ye thick headed scrap o' junk!" the shorter pirate yelled trying to keep the item secured in their hands.

"Sorry…"

"I'll make ye sorry!"

"This might be easier than I thought it would be," Ratchet said watching the two fumble and argue. "Say, uh, I hate to stop whatever it is you're doing but I think you've got something that doesn't really belong to you." The mechanic brought out his wrench and smacked it lightly on his palm as he walked closer to the two pirates. "We'll just be taking it back with us, now."

"Oh?" The small irate buccaneer squinted his only working eye and grinned. "Ye mean this? Ha ha! Run!" he yelled as the two hurried in the opposite direction of Ratchet.

Ratchet rolled his eyes twitching an ear and sprinted after them.

The clumsy duo ran with the precious object, turning at all odd corners trying to lose the Lombax. Other pirates that saw the pursuit began opening fire on the intruder. The small pirate yelled out angrily every time a shot was close to hitting them or the thing in their hands. Ratchet kept on his toes and darted through whatever obstacle they threw at him. He watched them make another turn down yet another long corridor. There was large door at the end this time, however. It was the captain's quarters. They made a beeline right to the door and frantically requested entrance. The doors opened and the two hurried inside and Ratchet followed closely behind them entering and then stopping after he noticed a figure walking towards him. It halted as the two brought what they were carrying to the person emerging from the shadows.

"Are we done here? I'd like to get that thing and just go home," Ratchet announced to the figure.

"Ah, Ratchet and Clank. How nice of ye to join aboard me ship."

Funny. The voice that spoke sounded feminine. She was a female captain. Still a robotic pirate nevertheless. The red and black feathers bounced on her hat when she walked out of the darkness. Her features were revealed and she held the cloth covered artifact in both hands. It was rather heavy and large, actually. She unraveled the priceless treasure carefully and let the cloth fall to the ground. It showed a bright blue and purple light—it was beautiful. Ratchet look captivated for a moment by the light but quickly blinked his focus back onto what mattered.

"Stunning, innit?" she said. "Do ye know what this piece o' treasure be, little Lombax?" Her arms held out the item in front of her. "It be a rare rock that came not from this galaxy. The scientists that research this piece o' treasure can't seem to pinpoint its origins, but it crashed on planet Igliak thousands of years ago. They say that the energy radiating off of this rock is so great that it could power me whole ship for years. And even more…"

"So, is that the only reason you took it? To power your ship? Seems kind of pointless if you ask me." Ratchet perked a brow at the female captain.

"Aye, it would be pointless. Which is why I be using it to help power me cannons and increase me weaponry. I'll be the most feared pirate in all Polaris—since poor Slag's decapitation knocked him down a peg, that is." She cackled under her breath as her shipmates followed with her example. "Who knows? I just may be able to even give me own self some _modifications_."

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Ratchet tossed his wrench in the air, catching it seconds after and ran towards the devilish captain.

She immediately gave command to seize the Lombax and his robot friend and ran to the end of the room, climbing up a ladder to another deck of the room. The room of pirates motioned after Ratchet. His hands were full instantly as pirate after pirate bombarded him with hits of their swords and shots of their guns. Meanwhile, with him distracted, the captain took the artifact to a port on the wall and inserted the glowing marble inside of it carefully. Her eyes were wide with immeasurable expectation. The ship's computer scanned the item and validated it as a sufficient source of power and began to feed of its energy.

"Yes!" she cried out with exhilaration.

Ratchet looked up at her after smacking down another pirate with his wrench. He observed a few sparks coming from the port on the wall. His head cocked to the side a bit confused and the lights in the room flickered on and off. The pirates stopped attacking when they noticed the sparks as well. They saw their captain step away and a warning flashed on the computer's holo-screen. A feminine voice came over the intercom.

"Warning. Warning. Core temperature overheating. System shutdown initiating."

"What…? What's goin' on?" the captain asked to no one specifically. She tried to turn off the energy extraction in process but was nearly electrocuted in the process. Her hand flinched away from the controls as she tumbled back.

"Warning. System error. Requesting manual override to commence shutdown."

"I already tried that, ye stupid machine!" her voiced cracked with her yell.

"Oh, boy…" Ratchet looked at the mess that was happening above.

"Ratchet, I think we should escape before we are caught in an explosion. It sounds like to ship's computer could not intake the amount of power that this stone was giving it," Clank advised as Ratchet was taking a step backward.

"I'm way ahead of you, pal!"

The mechanic skid out of the room as some of the pirates did as well. The room behind them was becoming an electrifyingly blue and purple storm. Clank could see the chaos behind him on Ratchet's back.

"Abandon ship!" one of the pirates yelled.

"I knew this was a terrible idea!" another said fleeing from the ship.

The captain didn't want to leave the treasure behind. Finding another like it would be one in a billion. She would go down with her ship. She would try to pull the artifact from its position in the port but every time she tried it became more and more agitated, sending a shock through her system and illuminating the room with a blue and purple light. The ship was falling apart. Ratchet was making his way down the corridors as fast as he could just to get to his ship.

"There, Ratchet! The room to the right! That is where we entered from!" the robot said and with a hurry Ratchet ran in to the room seeing that the panel he took off before was still missing.

The lights continued to flicker and circuit boards busted with rapid shots of electricity all around. He quickly put on his oxygen mask before exiting the room—there was hardly any air in there now. Ratchet's ship was still under its cloaking device on the side of the mother ship. The hatch opened with a press of a button on a small remote that was around the mechanic's belt. Clank was tossed onto his seat on the passenger's side and Ratchet took a hold of the controls, starting up the small vessel in urgency. The same glow came outside of the ship and reflected off of Ratchet's now visible windshield.

"Hang on, Clank."

Ratchet's ship rumbled with its detachment from the exploding pirate spacecraft. Other ships were leaving it but something strange was happening. Where the captain's quarters were, the ship was severed and the glow there was most concentrated; but it appeared as if things were being drawn to it. Ratchet's ship was hard to control. It fought to get away from the gravity of this thing but it just kept pulling and pulling.

"I can't get the ship to move out of range!"

The small ship was only a transport ship. It wasn't meant to go very fast or go through gravitic warp. If things were going to end up like this he probably wouldn't have taken the ship out in the first place. They only managed to get a few miles away from the wreckage and havoc. From the window the two could see what was becoming of the ship. It was being taken over or consumed into something. Clank mustered a worried face at what he felt like would be their own fate as well. Ratchet couldn't but look back as well and his ears narrowed to the sides after he saw the chaos behind them.

"What exactly is that, Clank?" he bothered to ask questioning the anomaly behind them.

"It looks like a small black hole."

"But there's light coming out of it. And we're not slowing down…or whatever."

"Perhaps it tore a worm hole in our universe?"

"Well, I really wish it hadn't…!"

The small transport couldn't bear the pull much longer. They were just wasting fuel at this point. The light from the anomaly reached the ship and engulfed it. The speculation was seen through the asteroid belt—it even took a few rocks with it. The only thing the duo saw was a bright light and they only heard a loud humming sound. The anomaly from the artifact remained opened but its energy was slowly decreasing. What things that were taken through it were spat out somewhere else. It was like traveling through a bright, warped tunnel. There was no direction and it seemed like forever. There was an end, however, and Ratchet's ship was sent hurtling out if into a different section of space. His concentration was dulled and hindered from the disorienting travel through the tunnel. Clank was feeling the same way, though he noticed the planets and stars they were around. But they all went by so fast. Nothing looked familiar—if he could just catch a glance… They were rapidly approaching something. It was a blue planet. It had life, it should seem.

"Brace yourself for impact…," Ratchet said trying to grip the controls and steady the ship knowing that their crash would be inevitable.

As they pressed through the planet's atmosphere, Ratchet hoped for the best.


	3. A Different Anomaly

**Chapter Two**

Below the atmosphere on a larger continent, on a desert plane, thirty minutes before impact.

The sun was setting down under the red-orange colored rocks. The sky above was transforming into a darker blue further away in the other direction. A young woman was riding a dirt bike on top of a bumpy plateau just to get some exercise in for the day. She had been all around the desert trail. Her home was several miles away. She was about to head back, since the sun was going down. The night was dangerous out there. She turned her bike around to face the sun as the light bounced off of her glasses that were speckled with some dirt form all the riding she'd done. She wiped her lenses with her thin shirt and some of her hair came loose from the ponytail that held it all together. When she put them back on she could see a great view of the desert below her and all around her. The woman sniffled and sighed through her nose and she dug through the pack on her back for a coat that she brought in case she didn't return before the sun set. She knew how cold it got there at night. There was something that caught her eye in the distance. It looked like a flashing light in the sky almost above her head. The stars were just coming out now and so were a couple planets. Depending on the season you could see a few at night from this location. She didn't recognize this star though. Maybe it was a plane? Or maybe it was a satellite? She squinted her eyes trying to figure it out but it didn't work so well for her. There was a reason she wore glasses, her eyes were terrible. Somehow it looked like it was getting closer, too. That was strange. The young brunette woman shook her head lightly and put on her coat. A necklace she wore around her neck almost slipped off its chain. Her hands caught the gem and fixed it with an annoyed huff. She placed her feet on the pedals of the bike and started riding off in the direction of home. It was about ten minutes later that she bothered to look back again at the flashing light in the sky. It had gotten bigger and she could almost hear it. She stopped her bike and gazed up again. Her eyes were wide now that she could make out what it was. It was some sort of ship, like a military jet or something. It was going to crash. Her gasp was drowned out by the craft flying about thirty feet above her head. It whistled loudly breaking through the air. The wind kicked up dirt and debris around the biker. There was such a loud crash into the ground she could feel the tremors. When the dust cleared she took her head away from her arms and saw the plane several feet ahead. Something else came crashing through the clouds after the ship. She couldn't see what it was. Probably some miscellaneous part from the aircraft.

"Oh, my god…," she said under her shaken breath. "Oh, my god!"

Her bike skid down the path and she pedaled as fast as she could to the smoking wreckage. It took almost ten minutes to reach it; the path was rigid and not much of a trail anymore. Her bike lost its grip to the ground and toppled on its side. The woman didn't care much. She just jumped off and continued running the rest of the way. Her breath felt sharp on her lungs. She panted the whole way until she made it. What was in front of her was something she'd never seen before. A baffled expression was plastered to her face; she was hesitant to even approach it. Her feet slowly brought her to the ship. The lights on the outside flickered and smoke clouded the inside. She didn't know if whatever was inside was even alive now. A sinking feeling sat heavily in her stomach. Her nerves were starting shake. She tried desperately to figure out a way to open the thing up. She couldn't see a door but just that it looked like the glass part with the large window opened up. Her intelligence told her that she couldn't just lift it up even though she tried. It felt hot. Her fingers removed instantly at the first burning sensation. But suddenly the hatch popped open spilling out all the smoke inside. The woman coughed and narrowed her eyes attempting to see what was within.

"Hello?" she called out. "Are you still alive?" 

She felt like that was a stupid but legitimate and honest question all at the same time. When the smoke cleared she could finally see what lay inside. There were frankly no words she could say. The things that were before her made her blink again and again. Was it a dream? This had to be some kind of dream. She saw closest to her in the driver's seat something that looked like a cat or a person that looked like a cat. Or something. And next to him was a small robot. They were both unconscious. She could tell the driver was breathing. The mask he wore kept the smoke out of his lungs luckily. The antenna on the little robot's head was blinking occasionally. Maybe that meant it was okay, too? She had no idea. The woman had to look past her apprehension and tried to wake up the pilot. She tampered with the seatbelt but to her dismay it was jarred—that or she couldn't understand how it worked. The suit he was wearing looked like something from a futuristic, Science Fiction movie. Actually, this whole setting did, the ship, the robot, the pilot. She leaned into the ship to try and shake the unconscious creature awake by gripping at his shoulders. When that didn't work, she tried nudging on the sides of his face. Still nothing. She remembered that in her backpack was a bottle of water. Maybe that'll work. The woman just hoped his suit was waterproof. She pulled out the water bottle and squirted some of its contents into his eyes and whatever body part that was exposed. To her surprise he flinched a little and made a grunt through his mask. She continued to shake him conscious until his eyes opened a crack. Her hand was taken away when she noticed him coming to finally.

"Are you alright?" she said still leaning into the craft.

Her words sounded muffled and unintelligible to him. He looked at her with his eyes barely opened. His hands moved slowly to find the release on the belt and it loosened him from its grasp. His rescuer watched him undo the latches to his oxygen mask as it tumbled to the ground at her feet. It startled her momentarily but her attention was brought back to the pilot who looked like he was trying to get a grip on the situation. He turned his head to the woman looking back at him with a blank yet astonished face. He'd never seen her species before. His ears flinched and his eyes tried to open further.

"What's the matter? Never seen a Lombax before?" he said tired and fatigued.

The girl with the glasses only stared at him with furrowed brows and watched him try to exit his craft. She barely caught a hold of him by the underarms when he stumbled out. His weight pushed against her but he didn't feel that heavy. She kept her balance and him steady as well. The pilot grasped onto her arms before he could keep himself on his own two feet. He exchanged a look to her briefly, raising a brow and something of a smile. She let her hands off of him and he used her for balance for the moment. His muscles were in a state of slight shock from the impact on the planet. The armor that he wore, however, was able to take most of the damage. He gently pressed himself off of her to look back at the ship. The little robot was still there. The pilot began to make his way back to his friend. The woman just watched him when he started to talk to the robot. She couldn't understand him. What was he speaking? Her eyes and ears still couldn't fathom the moment. She noticed the tiny machine waking up and continued to stare.

"Clank… Clank…" Ratchet knocked on his friend's head. "Wale up. We crash landed in some desert. Turns out it has some nice-looking alien female species, too," he added with a small philander of his brows.

Clank's eyes finally opened with a spin of their metal covers. He shook his head and sat up in the ship taking note of the confused alien near them.

"Have any idea where we are?" Ratchet asked.

His friend pondered.

"Before we crashed I was able to see some planets' features, including this one. However, I have no idea where we are." He shrugged regrettably. "Perhaps she can tell us our location?"

"Right," he said with a small smile.

Clank hopped out of their vessel and walked alongside his friend to the woman who still stood there in perplexity. This had to be some kind of a dream. Nothing like this ever happens. _Ever_. Her life was normal—supposed to be normal—and this was interfering with everything normal that she knew. Her eyes followed the two "aliens" as they approached her. The one with the funny ears was speaking to her but she still couldn't understand his words. All she could do was stare and blink looking like some idiot.

"Um…" Ratchet scratched the side of his face after getting only one reaction from her. "You don't understand me, do you?"

Still the same reaction.

Ratchet took a small device off of his belt that looked like a pocket communicator of some sort. He pressed a button on it and held it out to the stranger. Her eyes converged to look it and one of her brows perked wondering what he wanted her to do with it.

"Just… eh…" He paused. "Speak into it. Like this."

The mechanic started talking at the device for a few seconds and it registered his language as he spoke. He then held it up back to her in hopes she would catch on to his example. She really wasn't sure about it. She looked at the device and then back to him. He nodded his head up quickly to let her know to go ahead with it. With more than a little vacillation, the woman with glasses leaned in forward and spoke into the tiny machine. She didn't say much but a few words. Unfortunately the device needed more than that. Ratchet made a hand gesture for her to keep going. She didn't know what to say. She said her name, where she came from, how old she was, or what she did today. Things like that. The more she spoke, the more data the translator could gather about her language. He pulled the device away and looked at the digital screen. The language came up as unknown but he let the download commence with a shrug. After a moment Ratchet put the object back on his belt and glanced to the woman this time with a sigh before he opened his mouth.

"Can you understand me now?" he asked.

"I… Yeah, I can." Her eyes were a little wide again.

"Alright. Can you tell us exactly where we are?"

"You're in the Sonoran desert, in Arizona?" She spoke rather slow and quiet.

"Who?" Ratchet tilted his head.

"It is like I said before, Ratchet. When I caught a glimpse of the other planets around us, I did not recognize any of them," Clank reminded his friend with a frown. "When we exited that wormhole, I believe we ended up in another sector of our universe. Although, the possibility still exists that we are not even in our own universe any longer."

Ratchet's ears parted to the sides momentarily and his tail swayed back and forth while a sigh escaped his breath.

"Well, that's great." He looked at the woman. "So, what do you call your planet?"

"Earth. She's the only planet in our solar system with life. Well, intelligent life, I guess."

"Earth? And what's your species?"

"Human beings?" she shrugged with her palms out. "Or if you want to be technical we're called Homo sapiens." She stopped and stared with question. "What about you? Who are you? _What_ are you? Where did you come from?"

A chuckle left Ratchet's mouth.

"My name's Ratchet and this is Clank. To keep it short, I'm a Lombax and he's a, well, he's exactly what you think he is."

"I am more than just a robot," Clank squinted his eyes judgingly to his friend.

"We came from a wormhole. On the other side is a galaxy called Polaris. And that's where we've been for the past few months."

The woman was taking in all of this strange information one tiny piece at a time. She did find it somewhat funny that a galaxy was named Polaris when they had the exact same name for one of their stars.

"And what is your name, Miss?" Clank said interrupting her thoughts.

"Me? Um, I'm Femka."

"Nice to meet you. Now that that's out of the way, I need to see if I can fix the ship." Ratchet made his way to the end of the transport. "I'm actually surprised. This thing was more durable than I thought it'd be," he said aloud as he inspected the area.

Clank joined him after a moment to see what the damage was. Femka stood at the same place she'd been standing at for the past several minutes and contemplated what on Earth what she would do. She was still trying to get a grasp on reality. Her thoughts took over for a decent amount of time until she noticed something else in the distance. That's right. Something else fell down from the sky. It wasn't that far, so she decided to investigate it anyway. Maybe they needed it for their ship. Femka pushed up her glasses when she arrived to a crater around the fallen object. It was glowing brightly. It was beautiful, actually. Her lips circled to a fascinated shape.

"Oh, wow…"

She continued to gaze at the mystifying rock. It reminded her of the necklace that she wore. It was the same color and everything; it was the same shade of blue and purple. She had no clue what it was for though. She imagined anything that it could be used for. It was kind of fun thinking that way. She met aliens from a different planet. A different galaxy even. And possibly a whole different universe! Maybe this was some kind of power cell? It excited her to think about stuff like this. Her hand extended out to touch it lightly. It was pretty warm still. She tried digging around it; it seemed lodged into the dirt and when she tried to pick it up the first time it didn't really budge. Digging it out took her a few minutes. The thing looked to be the size of a grapefruit or a watermelon and when she attempted to pick it up she thought she might throw out her back. Holding it in her arms she noticed its features. There were cracks around it now but despite that Femka would bring it back to the two she just met. She tried to watch her feet carefully so she didn't trip over the rough terrain. It was a nice thing that this rock was glowing. It was pitch black outside aside from her and Ratchet's ship being the only things that were illuminated.

"Hey, do you need this by any chance?" she said coming up to the vessel. "It's a little heavy for me."

The mechanic looked around the corner of the ship to see Femka struggling with the artifact. His ears lifted up in alert when he registered what exactly she was carrying. That rock was the reason they were in this mess in the first place and for that reason Ratchet wasn't too fond of it at the moment.

"Don't touch that!" Ratchet yelled out.

Femka was startled by his shout and his reaction. Was it radiated or something? Oh, god. Would it kill her? Did have some kind of alien disease or bacteria that could eat her alive? She panicked and pitched the rock as hit the ground again with a hard thud. That wasn't what the Lombax wanted her to do either. His shoulders tensed when it landed on another rock but only rolled a few inches. When nothing happened he eased himself and cocked his head a tad to the left, staring at the artifact. Femka's face was still in shock but staring down at it as well.

"Huh." Ratchet shrugged. "I guess nothing happened…"

Suddenly the light coming from the fractured artifact glowed stronger. The blue and purple light spilled from the cracks causing Femka to cover her eyes. A light shot up in the air. It seemed to go forever.

"Get away from it!" the alien called out to the woman.

She started to back away but she felt a strange tug around her neck. Her necklace was reacting with the rock. It was emitting a glow of its own. A current of electricity—or something like it—came rushing through her. Nothing like that was pleasant. It stung and forced out of her a short scream. She was consumed into the light within seconds; her glasses flew in another direction. The sparks flew at Ratchet's ship as well. The light that was coming from the artifact expanded but dimmed. Femka was rendered unconscious from the strain as her body began to lift off of the ground. It wasn't hers only that was lifting. The ship moved from its position of being stuck in some dirt and terrain and was now a couple feet in the air. Clank's body lifted up to his surprise and Ratchet's followed in the tunnel of light. Ratchet spun his body around to try and keep himself straight. It was like zero-gravity but they just kept lifting.

"Ratchet, I have a theory of where we are going," Clank alleged as he drifted.

"Yeah, so do I, so let's get to the ship!" he said floating upside-down.

"What about Miss Femka?"

Ratchet looked about for her. She was floating not too far from him. Ratchet made an effort to swim after her. He reached out to her arm and pulled her close to him. He noticed his oxygen mask drifting in the beam of light they were trapped in and grabbed it as well, heading inside the ship as they continued to rise through the sky. He placed the woman in an empty seat on the ship and strapped her in while Clank took his spot at the passenger's side as usual. Ratchet closed the hatch and buckled himself in taking the controls and attempting to engage the ship. The computers were online and functioning. One of the thrusters was offline and damaged but the other seemed to be working at eighty-percent capacity. The ship couldn't be moved from the beam they were engulfed in; Ratchet had tried. It was better to just see where this thing was taking them. Within minutes they were going through the Earth's atmosphere. The light phased through the thick ozone and lead them through the exosphere into space. Their speed increased greatly as they dashed past the other planets in the solar system. The light appeared to be guiding them back to the wormhole. Ratchet thought it to be a miracle if the transport made it through the wormhole again. The light back on planet Earth was dissipating. The artifact exploded into thousands of little shards back on the ground. People on the outskirts of the desert saw the light. Whatever speculation they thought it was would leave them clueless for now. Meanwhile, the ship was commencing through the space anomaly. Just like before, it was a strange experience. Light flashing and changing, a distorting sound ringing into their ears—a very unpleasant detour. Ratchet's eyes remained open during the duration of their wormhole adventure and when the light stopped the ship was thrust out the other side and back into the Polaris galaxy. The two stared out into space until Ratchet looked over to Clank.

"We made it."

"And it would appear just in time," Clank noted as the wormhole behind them was coming to a close.

"Kind of a shame we had to leave that thing behind, huh?"

"Indeed. But what about Miss Femka? We must make sure that she is alright."


	4. Foreigner

**Chapter Three**

Everything was blurred in her dreams. Nothing made sense though it all seemed so surreal and lucid. She was flying through the sky. Water streams were like veins traveling in and out of the clouds around her. There was a voice in the distance calling out to her. She couldn't make it out. It seemed familiar.

"Who's there?" she asked but the voice ignored her question and continued to call out her name.

Her eyes opened slowly to see the man from before standing over her calling her name and shaking her lightly on the shoulder. She was awaking from her dream.

"Femka? Can you hear me?"

"Huh…?"

"Wake up."

"Wha…?"

Femka's watery eyes tried to open further as she focused on Ratchet and some incoherent words tumbled from her mouth.

"What's going on?" she said drowsily.

"You're awake, finally. You've been knocked out for almost two days. We almost thought you were in a coma."

"Huh?" Femka's voice squeaked.

"You're still a little out of it. Just lay there for a minute, I'll be right back."

"…Uhh…"

Femka had tried to sit up as she watched the Lombax leave the room but she immediately let herself fall on her back on the bed she lay in. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers and looked around the room. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was that bright light and then nothingness. But everything in the room she was in seemed so… advanced, or like it came from the future. At least that's what she thought of it. She saw something that looked like a television or a computer on the other end of the room. Other things she had no clue as to what they were. She was still too out of it to make theories. Ratchet came back in the room a few minutes later with something in his hands. He approached her holding out a container of water and something that looked like a capsule pill.

"Can you sit up? Do you need help?" he asked setting the things he had down on a table next to the bed.

Whether or not she intended on answering he helped lift her up a bit and used a pillow to prop up her upper body anyway. He grabbed the water and little pill and handed them to her.

"What's this?" Femka asked rolling the capsule in her fingers.

"It's a vitamin. You haven't had anything to eat since you passed out, so it'd be a good idea to have this in your system."

"Is it safe?"

"Of course. I'm not trying to poison you," he joked.

The poor woman just wasn't even sure if it was safe to ingest because they were both different species. But she sighed through her nose lightly and popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed the water. She drank it all, too. After having something entering her empty stomach she realized that she was hungry. A low growl was heard from her midsection and she looked down with embarrassment and Ratchet chuckled with a smile.

"I'll take it that you're hungry," he teased.

"A little…" Her eyes wondered back up and she stared at the Lombax near her. "Where am I?" she said after a moment.

"Oh, that. Um, well, when you got knocked out that rock that you dropped on the ground caused us to ascend into the sky. We took you with us, because if we hadn't you probably wouldn't be around." He scratched his ear trying to explain the story. "The way we came to your solar system was through a wormhole and that's how we came back. We didn't really have a choice. My ship was stuck in the pull of the light and it sent us back home here."

"And home is where exactly?" her voice crackled through her quiet words.

"Meridian City, on a planet called Igliak, in the Praxus sector of the Polaris galaxy."

Femka was silent for a little while. She had no idea where that was relative to her own home. It was all foreign. Obviously. Everything was foreign. Things that looked like they could be something she knew were foreign. She was speechless. She was unconscious the whole trip but she was in another galaxy, somewhere in the universe, or another universe.

"So," she swallowed, "I'm really on another planet?"

Ratchet simply nodded.

Femka put a hand on her forehead to check if she had a fever or something. Her eyes were wide. She wanted to be excited about this whole endeavor but, Christ! This was unreal!

"Could I… possibly take a shower or something? I really think I need cold water on my face…"

"Sure. Do you need any help getting up?"

She slid her legs first off of the bed and let her feet dangle. Ratchet let her hold his hand when her feet touched the cold floor and use him as means of support. Her body felt weak to some extent but she managed to stand on her own. Ratchet guided her to the bathroom. Even that looked like a whole new experience. She just stared at everything like she'd been for the past few minutes. He showed her how it worked. It seemed like everything was functioned by computers here. Kind of neat, though. There was even a self-automatic dryer for your body. But for now, she would just stick with a towel.

"If you need anything, just let me know. You can press this button here on the wall and I'll be able to hear you from anywhere in the garage."

She complied with a small nod and watched him leave the room. The doors closed in an interesting circular fashion behind him. It reminded her of the aperture to a camera shutter. Needless to say, she wanted to get out of the clothes she'd been wearing for a couple days now. When she started to undress her shorts, she noticed her glasses were gone finally. She sighed heavily and took off her shirt followed by her necklace. The rest of her clothes went off in frustration. Femka wanted to ask her host to wash her clothes for her, since they were all she had to wear, but at the same time, she really didn't want a stranger touching her undergarments. The emotionally challenged outsider just stuck with the shower routine for now. She followed Ratchet's instructions on how to turn the device on and just hopped in regardless of how cold it was. She yelped straight away when the cold water hit her back and legs. She was wide awake now, though. This only reassured her that she wasn't dreaming and all of this _was_ real. But how could something like this happen? Something so extraordinary and weird? Femka stood in the shower for about ten minutes before washing herself. She was thinking nonstop about all the input she was receiving. Her wet feet exited the shower first and she looked at herself in the mirror. Something seemed strange to her. Beside the overflow of various emotions rampaging about her head, something felt different. She couldn't quite pinpoint it, though. The woman stared at the clothes on the floor. She had a small idea. She took her clothes after wrapping herself in the towel she was given and threw them into the shower and turned the water back on. She found some soap (or what she thought was soap) and washed her clothes manually. The shower turned off again and Femka brought her clothes to the dryer just a foot away. For a second she looked at the machine and pondered how on Earth to operate it. She couldn't read the language that it had posted on it. Were those even the instructions?

"How does this even work?" she said quietly to herself.

Her head shook and she stepped inside anyway tossing the towel away. There were only a few buttons in the stall, so she took a risk and just pressed one. Nothing happened. Her blue eyes blinked and she pressed another button. She kept pressing buttons until something eventually did happen. A burst of warm air came rushing at her from every angle. She let out a big gasp and her clothes were sent flying all through the stall. The cycle lasted for about one minute. Femka stood there with her hair all over the place as her clothes fell down.

"That was exciting."

At least she had a smile on her face. She repeated the process until her clothes were dry. She left the bathroom feeling a little better in any case. Her curiosity came out in a positive aspect when she wondered out of the room. She noticed the windows that gave her a look to the outside world. Femka's eyes widened at what she saw. She walked over to a big window to see the city before her. Ships, flying cars, flying every-kind-of-vehicle, the tall buildings, the amazing architecture, the lights, the everything! She was blown away by the sheer brilliance and grandeur. This is where she was. And her mouth remained agape with her plastered against the window glass.

"Holy shit…," she whispered to herself. "This is amazing. I can't believe this…"

The metropolis looked like it was entering twilight but all the lights form the big city kept everything alive at night. Femka was just in awe. She heard footsteps coming into the room and she quickly turned herself around. She had to strain her eyes to see who was entering but she already knew who it was because of his dominant features. She smiled faintly at him and walked towards him.

"I brought you something to eat." Ratchet held out some kind of a meal to her. "I really can't guarantee that you'll like it, though. I have no idea what your species eat on your planet." He chuckled nervously and set the food down on a nearby table.

Femka sat down and inspected the food. It looked like soup. Something that appeared to be meat was floating in it and the liquid had a red color. She took the spoon that was on the tray with the bowl and stirred the broth around. Ratchet took a seat at the other side of the small table and Femka braved a taste of the soup. Her face seemed to say that she didn't mind it. She took another bite. The taste reminded her stomach she was hungry and she carried on eating the meal.

"Not bad?" he asked placing an arm on the table to lean into it.

"No, it's pretty good. But for now don't tell me what it is, because I might not wanna know." Femka kept her pace with inhaling the food.

"It's a deal." He smirked and waved his tail slowly.

Femka devoured her meal in a matter of minutes. Ratchet gladly took the bowl from her asking if she wanted more. She nodded eagerly and to which he left and came back and presented her with another round of the stuff. When she finished her second serving she couldn't help but point out the absence of Ratchet's friend.

"What, Clank? I just asked him to pick up some parts for me from the scrap lot. He'll be back soon."

"What do you do? For a living, I mean." Femka licked the remains of the soup from her lips.

"I'm a rocket mechanic."

Her attention was focused.

"Really?" her voice peaked with interest.

"Yeah," he smiled. "And what about you? What do you do?"

"I'm a translator. Or at least I _was_ a translator," she corrected herself. "Which is ironic now, since I don't know anything about any languages here." Her eyes looked down to the empty bowl in front of her.

Ratchet noted that her expression changed from something happy to sad. He placed a hand on the back of his neck at a loss of what to say.

"Hey, it'll be alright. We'll figure out a way to get you home."

The woman looked up to Ratchet as some of her damp hair dropped over her shoulders. She wanted to smile and she only did it to make him feel better. She knew he was just trying to ease her worries but it wasn't that simple.

"I think I'm gonna go back to bed," she spoke up again standing up from her seat.

"Do you need anything else?"

"No, thank you."

Ratchet watched Femka leave the room and head back to his bed. He felt bad for her. But what could he do right now? Just help her cope in the meantime until they find a way to send her back home.

A heavy sigh left Femka's nostrils and the door behind her closed. The room was sort of lit up from the lights outside shining onto the metal objects around it. She sat herself onto the bed with her legs handing down the side and just stared out the window watching life go by. She inspected the room, or at least the objects in that caught her attention. There was a thing that looked like a television. She remembered that from a little while ago. Some other stuff. Computers, maybe. He seemed to have a lot of interesting trinkets lying around. It was darker now. The sun was gone but she couldn't have seen it go anyway, buildings were in the way.

"I wonder how they tell time here?" she asked herself.

An object on the wall reminded her of a clock. Perhaps that was it. But she still couldn't read it. She sighed again folding her legs against her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She wasn't even tired. She just didn't want to bring down the mood in front of other people, though. Her body fell over to the side still huddled up in the same position. She noticed that her backpack made it through all the excitement. That was good. It was near the bed, so she reached out for it and brought it up with her. Femka opened the bag and rummaged through her things. She had a wallet, an inhaler, a sketchbook, some little snack, her bottle of water, some utensils for drawing, a cell phone that probably doesn't work here, and an MP3 player. She took out the drawing book and the stuff to draw with setting it down next to her. The phone she had with her was taken out too. She noticed that she had a couple messages. She obviously didn't receive them while she was here but she opened her phone to look. One message was sent while she was out riding. Maybe a half hour before all the mayhem started. It was from her friend Alexander.

"_When are you coming back? I'm bored…"_ it said. The other one was from the same person. _"Oh, my god! Tell me you're seeing what I'm seeing!"_ it said. Her eyes narrowed at the text.

"Oh."

He was talking about the light in the sky. Well, she definitely saw that. She was a part of it, so to speak. She closed her phone with a sigh and put it back in her bag. The MP3 player she brought with her still had a lot of battery life. Their outlets were different no doubt, so there probably wouldn't be a way to charge it when it died. Oh, well. She needed something to calm her mind. The backpack was placed on the floor and Femka decided to just listen to music and draw until she felt sleepy. When her eyes felt heavy she pulled off her headphones with a yawn and put them back into her bag. She stared at the drawing in front of her. It was a bust of herself smiling. She wanted to smile, too. And when she drew things that were happy, it made her happy as well. Femka put the picture aside on the table near the bed. Her pencils and things went on top of it. She made her way underneath the covers and rested her head on the pillow. Until she could close her eyes she thought of home. She thought about things that would make her laugh; things that were funny that her friends said. It helped a little. Sooner or later, the foreigner was asleep.


	5. The Worries Back on Earth

_Author: This part is sliiiightly irrelevant to the whole story but some things are a little necessary; which is why this is so short! _

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

Earth, a small town on the outskirts of the Sonoran desert.

A younger man was waiting with an older woman at the local police station; Femka's mother and her friend Alexander.

"It's been almost five days, since I've seen my daughter. She always rides that pathway, always. How can you tell me that you haven't found her? You've sent search and rescue, haven't you?"

She seemed irate and distraught. The man in front of her tried to calm her down. It didn't seem to do much good for the worried mother.

"Ma'am, we've said before. We're going to keep looking for her until we find her. There are endless possibilities to what may have happened to your daughter out in the desert," he explained. "The only thing we were able to find was a pair of glasses and a bike."

The mother put her hand over her forehead and eyes partially. She didn't want to think of what could have happened to her. It could've been anything. A wild animal could've attacked her, she could've fallen into a chasm, anything! But what the police couldn't explain were the markings around where her glasses were. Something definitely looked like it crashed there. And around her things was the purple and blue powder from the rock that exploded. And then the light. Silly as it was, some people speculated "alien abduction". That was the first thing to be dismissed. There were no such things as aliens. Though, people clearly saw a ship crashing through the atmosphere and then leaving it again. Satellites captured the images.

"Don't worry, Mrs. N.," Alexander said. "She'll turn up soon."

The poor woman just sighed heavily through her mouth. She tried hard not to cry but she couldn't hold back the tears. Her daughter was nowhere in sight. She'd been spirited away with no trace of her location.

The two left the station after being promised yet again that the search would continue later in the afternoon. Alexander parted ways with Femka's mother to head back to his own residence. It was weird. He couldn't help but think of reasons for her disappearance that seemed a bit asinine. But Femka vanished when the light happened. He sent her a text as it was happening. But… Then again… She didn't respond to his earlier message either. Alexander moved his glasses up his nose as he walked. He felt sick just thinking about reasons why she didn't answer her phone. When the thought of her being dead crossed his mind he almost cried. But he wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't believe that she was just dead. She was somewhere and she was alive. He felt it—or so he thought.

"Where in the world are you, Fem?" he said to himself and took a look at his phone one last time under her name.

Still no messages.

"Wherever you are, come home soon…"


	6. Accepting and Rejecting Your New Life

**Chapter Five**

There was an interesting smell wafting through the door to the room where Femka was sleeping at. She woke up to it, her nose sniffing it in subconsciously. She never smelled something like it before but it smelled good anyway. Sort of sweet, like pancakes. The first thing on her mind was what the time was, but that was removed from her thoughts when she remembered where she was again. She almost thought she was home. She rubbed her eyes and sat up looking about as she tried to wake up. Her gaze traveled to the window again. She found that to be the most interesting place so far. So much was going on out there. It just bothered her that she had to squint just to barely see some of it. Femka moved out of bed, fixing her hair and putting it a ponytail. She realized how inconvenienced she was at that moment. Well, she was a girl. She didn't care too much for her looks but she still cared somewhat. She wanted to brush her hair, she wanted to change her clothes, and she wanted to do whatever else she did for her morning routine. Not to mention she still felt weird! Just weird. Well, whatever. She was more interested in the smell drifting around the domicile anyhow. She could hear voices when she neared the bedroom's door. It opened when she stepped close to it. The sounds became louder. She heard Ratchet's voice and his friend, Clank, talking back and forth about something. The faint sound of electricity was present. The television was on giving the illusion of more people. She followed the noise and smell until she found her way to a kitchen. The two were in there making what appeared to be breakfast. The small robot noticed Femka peeking in through the doorway and acknowledged her from his spot on a tall stool.

"Greetings Miss Femka. Would you like to join us?"

"Oh, hey, you're awake," Ratchet said stirring a bowl of something-or-another and looking at her.

"What're you doing?" she asked upon slowly entering the kitchen.

"We are making Veldinite styled flapjacks," Clank answered with a smile.

"Second batch, Kyzil edition," the Lombax added motioning his eyebrows upward and pouring the stuff into a pan.

Femka smiled at the mechanic's enthusiasm and took a seat on another tall stool at an island table in the middle of the kitchen. She watched the television across from her. Looked like news, considering the fashion of dress and formal speak. It was still amazing to her. There was a robot on the television talking about weather. Who ever knew something so boring could be so amusing? She couldn't read anything they displayed but it was still fascinating nonetheless. There was a plate of hot cakes in front her minutes later. Femka blinked looking down at it. She was so busy being hypnotized by the TV that it slightly surprised her.

"Go ahead, try it," Ratchet motioned to the food with his head as he took a seat next to her with a plate of his own and began eating.

She curiously poked at it with her utensil before putting it in her mouth. They looked like pancakes, smelled similar to pancakes, tasted a lot like pancakes, therefore they must be pancakes. Veldonian styled flapjacks they were called in this case, however. Not too shabby. She enjoyed it. Clank was channel surfing with Ratchet being the commentary in the background, either saying the channel was lame or exponentially boring. They even passed a channel with Galactic Presidential Captain Qwark being interviewed and Ratchet without delay told Clank to skip it fast. There was something that they settled on watching and Femka was still captivated while she ate her food. By the time she finished her breakfast a small thought came into her mind. It was about her being a guest here. She appreciated the fact that someone took her into their home without a second thought but she didn't want to be a burden. Femka's thoughts were again dismissed by her plate being taken away and put into the sink.

"So, we were thinking—"

Ratchet began out of nowhere and Femka's head looked up as he continued form across her.

"—since you're probably gonna be here for little while, we thought it would be a good idea to show you the city, or at least some of it."

"And possibly retrieve some necessities for you to make your stay more comfortable," Clank added.

"You don't need to do that for me…," she spoke modestly.

"Do not be irrational, Miss Femka. You have no other clothes than the ones which you wear now. It is necessary for us to at least give you more than one piece of apparel."

"See? You have no choice." The Lomax shrugged whimsically with a smile.

Femka watched him walk around the island as Clank hopped down from the stool and left the kitchen.

"Just give me a minute and we'll get going."

With that, he stepped out of the room and the woman's less than average eyes followed him until she decided to slide off of the seat seconds later. She watched the television one last time noticing a commercial for some strange romance drama what seemed to involve a species that resembled her and a weird chubby alien. She looked quizzically at the screen and left the room deciding to wait elsewhere. She sat down in the living room area on a chair and played with the necklace she had around her. Her eyes peered into the stone's colors. A small light was gleaming from it. That was odd. Femka fixated on the gem until Ratchet wondered in the room looking for his other shoe. Her focus was faintly broken by a sudden "aha!" coming from behind her.

"I don't know how it ended up here," he said putting the shoe on with a small shrug of his brows.

The necklace the young lady was staring at gave the Lombax the incentive to peek over her shoulder at it. His head cocked to the side after witnessing a glow. That was odd indeed. It looked just like the artifact.

"Where did you get that?"

"Huh?" Femka's head turned to the side.

"Your necklace."

"Oh. It was a present from my grandma."

"Does it usually glow like that?" he asked still examining it from behind the chair.

"Not… not typically."

It stopped eventually and returned to its duller blue and purple color. Still weird, though; but since the moment was over it was time to leave. Femka left the chair and followed her host to the exit where Clank was waiting patiently by the door.

"Hope you don't mind walking," Ratchet stated as the door opened.

Of course not. She loved walking. But when they stepped outside she finally got a closer view of what the city really was. All she could do was stare in awe again as she slowly moved along the pathway from Ratchet's abode. When she looked up she could see all the flying vehicles above her head. It was just unreal. She was open-mouthed for a good few minutes before almost walking into someone. She chuckled nervously and kept her closeness by Clank and Ratchet. She observed all the people around her that were walking along. Most of them looked the same—or the same type of species, that is. They all had tails and pointed ears. Femka wondered about them, because they bore a resemblance to her own kind. She also noted their type of dress. It was all over the place. And while she walked she got less stares than she thought she would.

"_People must be so varied in this universe,"_ she thought to herself. _"I wonder if there's a species that looks just like me or something."_

She let her thoughts go as they wondered around the city for awhile. The two tried their best to describe everything to their guest what buildings were what, what things did what, and what species were what.

"Markazian?" Femka repeated after Clank.

"That is correct. They are the dominant species of this planet. The Polaris galaxy is very big, however, and many of its sectors give assortment to many different intelligent life forms. Markazians only being one example."

"That's incredible." Femka smiled.

"Indeed. Evolution certainly has come a long way for organic and artificial life as well."

Everything astounded the human being. There was so much input. Her worries of getting back home were gone for the moment and she only enjoyed herself with her alien hosts. She was lucky when they went to get things like clothing and other apparel. The Markazian shape wasn't much different than her own. The only problem was that their wardrobes had a place for their tails to slip through. When she tried something on in the dressing room she would look behind her at the open spot and curl her lips in. Maybe they could modify that for her. For now, though, she just covered it up with another set of attire or accessory. There was a robot who managed the dressing area. Everything seemed like it was automatic, but Femka would stick to dressing herself for now. Soon she was out of her three day-old clothing and in to something more suitable for their world. It suited her slender curves and small upper body. As for other personal items she would be sent off on her own with direction of where it was in the shopping center they were in to retrieve them.

"Actually, before you go in there," Ratchet spoke taking something off the side of his belt, "you should take this with you."

He handed her the translator with her language modified onto it.

"I meant to give it to you before we left the garage. I already updated my comm-link with your language, so you can keep this one."

Ratchet attached the device to the side of her belt.

"There." He smiled at her. "We'll be waiting outside for you. Oh, and, you'll need these, too."

Ratchet gave her some of the money they used and she stared at it with a weird expression on her face. She wanted to ask what they were but when he gave her the currency she quickly remembered something else of importance.

"Wait. I can't read any labels. What if something's not what I think it is and I get the wrong thing or—"

"Don't worry. I can't read Markazian either. I really wouldn't be much help. I'm pretty sure what you need will look like what it is on your planet," he said with a funny smile trying to reassure her. "And if you get distressed or something just call me. This button, this one right here," he pointed on her comm-link, "just press it and it'll contact me."

Femka nodded hurried into the store. She didn't want to take too long but she just wasn't sure on anything. At least the place seemed feminine specific. So, maybe getting what she needed wouldn't be that difficult. Though, she couldn't read anything she was determined to find what her shopping list demanded. When she was looking at some undergarments a thought appeared in her mind and made her wonder

"_Why can't he read Markazian? Is he not from this planet, then? Maybe a different country here?"_ Her head shook. _"I have no idea."_

Femka took about a half hour in there, finally leaving the store feeling a tad bit accomplished for doing something like that all by herself. Well, she treasured small victories like that. She saw that Ratchet was taking with someone who kind of looked like he was discontented about something. Clank was conscious to her presence and walked towards the woman who held a couple bags in her hands. She smiled at the sentient robot but looked back to the stranger who was going on about an important matter.

"What's going on over there?"

"That is Doctor Ipsin Ro. He is the lead researcher at Meridian's National Museum of Science and Archeology."

"What's his problem?"

"It is a matter concerning the object that was left on your planet. The artifact. It was rather important as they were studying its composition and function," Clank explained. "But you see, the artifact was stolen by space pirates and Ratchet and I went to retrieve it. However, the artifact seemed to have something mystifying about it and caused the pirate ship to collapse. The result of its overreaction was the wormhole we went through to your universe. Since we were unable to bring it back with us, Doctor Ro is not very happy."

"Yeah, but it's not your fault. Right?" She stared down at Clank. "It was an accident."

"Naturally, though, I am sure he is only looking for someone to blame at the moment. It was priceless research that is no longer able to be researched. He is merely upset by his loss."

Femka glanced back again at the researcher who started to walk away from the Lombax that rolled his eyes.

"Geez, what a pain in the neck," he said to himself approaching the two. "Anyway, did you find everything you needed?" His mood was already lighthearted again.

"Yeah."

Femka smiled shyly and dug out the left over bolts to give back to him. He declined them and shook his head.

"Just keep 'em for now."

Ratchet kept his carefree smile and steered her in the direction of their next destination. That was most of their day, just going random places and letting their guest take in the sights. They didn't walk the whole way either, they took trams, too, or skylines. Femka nearly was given a heart attack at the rail train they were on when it looked like the track was ending until they teleported to another section of the city. She tried her hardest not to stick out like a sore thumb but it didn't stop some people from staring at her when she held onto a pole for dear life and gasped. She tried to cover up her embarrassment with a silly smile and then just hid her face by turning the other direction. When she heard Ratchet snicker a laugh from the back of his throat she stared at him with a sardonic and very dry face. Despite that moment of displeasure the rest of the day was exciting. Femka seemed to be coming out of her shell more and more. Whenever she saw something interesting she wanted to investigate it. She was still nervous about the strangers around her, however. Some aliens weren't Markazian and frankly they frightened her just a wee bit, especially the Agorians. They stood tall and fierce with claws and teeth sharp like knives. They were big brutes and she made sure not to go near them. In the back of her mind she wondered if she'd see another creature like Ratchet. So far, nothing really looked like him. Then again, maybe they just weren't prominent on this planet. She remembered Clank saying that Polaris was very big. It kept boggling her mind. What else was there to see on this planet alone? How many planets were there that had developed life in this solar system? What were they like? How many species of intelligent life were there? So many questions flew through her unaccustomed brain. By the end of the day Femka was ready to fall into bed and pass out. They come back to the garage by sundown. The woman took her things to the room she was staying and ordered them to her liking. She just left the clothes draping over a chair in the room for now and she placed her toiletries and whatnot in her backpack. While they were out earlier Ratchet taught her how to read the analog clocks—it was some of the Markazian that he knew—so now she could at least tell the time. Femka slipped out of her clothes and into a pair of nightwear. She was ready to sleep. This night was easier to cope through. When her head met the pillow she was out within minutes. Her dreams were pleasant (though she would forget them by morning) and she didn't wake up once. It was refreshing, even though home was so far away…

The routine continued for several days and Femka would attempt adjusting to life there. That strange feeling she always felt during the day was going away. After about a week of trying to bend her life to fit the new one she had that feeling was nonexistent. She always thought of home and her friends still. She was strong. But one night she wanted to cry. The woman couldn't hold it anymore. Ratchet and Clank were doing everything for her. They were feeding her, giving her shelter, taking her in as one of their own. They even replaced her glasses she lost. But she just couldn't help but feel bad. She was even making him sleep somewhere else less comfortable, because he offered his bed to her this whole time. She wanted to go home, she didn't belong on Igliak. Not in Polaris either. She didn't belong here. Just last night she heard a conversation between the robot and the mechanic. Femka was only meaning to use the bathroom but had overheard them talking about her. They were talking about a way to get her home. It didn't seem good. Clank had mentioned that the likelihood of finding another way to transport the woman home could be impossible. She arrived there in such in fortuitous way. What could the odds be of taking her home in the same way? Regardless, it didn't help her position and her feelings continued to pile.

Tears streamed down her cheeks while sitting on the bed that night. Her legs were folded up against her chest. She tried to fall asleep early but all those thoughts kept her awake and miserable. Drawing didn't work this time either. The only thing left to do was to cry—even though she tried to stop. Her teary eyes looked out the window to see the view she was accustomed to. It was past twilight. The city looked beautiful as always. Her distraction was disturbed by the door opening. She quickly rubbed her eyes trying to wipe away the tears. The Lombax that entered his room only meant to retrieve something quickly. He thought he might have woken her up when he saw her. His ears twitched when Femka sniffled.

"Oh, I didn't wake you up, did I?" he said walking in further.

The room was dark but bright enough to show the features on her face. When he came closer to the bed he saw that she'd been crying.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Her nose sniffled.

"You don't really look fine," he stated having a seat next to her. "What's wrong?"

Femka sat in the same position she had been in for a while and wiped her eyes with her arm again. Ugh, this was embarrassing.

"I just…," she swallowed trying to speak. "I just miss my home. That's all." Her nose sniffled once more. "I just miss my mom, my friends, my dog… I miss my mom. I really miss my mom… and…," another sniff sounded, "I feel out of place. I can't fit in right. I know it's stupid but I'm the only human being here and I just want to fit in but I can't. I don't belong here. I even heard you and Clank talking before, that finding a way for me to get home was probably impossible."

Ratchet watched dejectedly as the woman next to him began crying. His ears went down at a loss of what to say. She was so unhappy it was putting him down as well. He didn't want her to feel obligated to fit in anywhere but that's simply what people do. They need to feel like they belong in order to feel welcome and safe. He knew that more than anyone. He placed a hand on her upper back to make an effort at least to comfort her.

"Fem," he spoke lightly tilting his head to her view, "I don't belong here just as much as you do. Well, yeah, sure. For me, it's a little different. I was born in this universe, in this galaxy, but it's not my home. I don't have species here that are like me either. They don't exist here anymore. I'm the only one left. Yeah, it upset me sometimes when I was little, because I didn't have a mom or a dad. I didn't even grow up in Polaris. I was galaxies away on another planet busy being orphaned and trying to live. And I'm not trying to make my point from a sob story. I wanted to fit in just as much as any other person out there. But I stopped trying after awhile. I stopped trying because trying made me upset to begin with. Instead I just stopped caring. If someone liked me, they liked me. If they didn't, oh well."

He paused for a moment to gather her reaction. She wasn't looking at him, which was normal. She probably thought she was being lectured. But she wasn't. She was just being informed.

"But how can I make this my home if it's not even my universe or my time period? How can I be expected to move on leaving everything that I loved behind?" she asked looking at the floor over her knees.

"I know we said that getting you home might be impossible but that doesn't mean you have to let those things go, or replace them. You just have to learn to cope with what you've got for the time being. No matter how much you don't like it you can't make yourself upset about it every time it pops up in your mind. I understand, Fem, I really do. I understand what it's like to not be able to have something so indispensable to you."

Femka only kept her face in her knees and let the tears that were dry be replaced with fresh droplets. Ratchet removed his hand from her back and stood in front of her. He moved her hands away from being wrapped around her knees and took her legs so they hung over the edge of the bed. Her hands were gripped so that she had to stand on her feet with a pull. Femka's head which was staring at the floor was picked up and forced to stare at the man in front of her.

"Hey, listen to me. Moping around won't make things better and it definitely won't improve your situation. I know there's not much you can do about to begin with, but when we can't change something for now we just have to deal with it and learn to make the most of it. You don't have to stop missing your friends, your dog or your mom but when you feel like crying because you don't have them, you have to be brave and learn to live without them." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not your mom or maybe I'm not anyone you picture going to when you have a problem, but I am here for you and so is Clank. We might not be like your friends back on Earth but we are your friends. I mean, if I didn't care I wouldn't let you sleep in my bed," he poked a smile at her.

Femka smiled back through her stubbornness and looked down just once to sniffle through her nose yet again. She gazed at Ratchet for a second before wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug as means of gratitude. He was taken back momentarily until he returned the favor for her. She felt at ease when he hugged her back. It wasn't her mom, it wasn't Alexander but at least it was somebody who cared. That was good enough for her. She broke away from the hug after a minute and looked shyly at her friend—it was safe to call him that now—and she smiled meekly.

"Do you feel a little better now?"

He had a nice smile when he asked her and she nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah, thank you. For everything."

"You don't have to thank me," he reassured with a shake of his head.

Ratchet remembered that he kind of barged in on her and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Did you wanna get back to bed?"

"Not really. But crying does make me sleepy, so I think I will eventually. I'll go to bed after I'm done drawing a picture."

"Drawing?"

His big ears perked at the word as Femka nodded with a small hum and grabbed her sketch book that was by her side.

"Ever since I came here I've been drawing a lot of stuff. I usually don't draw this much at home but, well, I kind of couldn't stop."

She held the book in her hands and presented it to him. He took a seat next to her and she watched his facial expressions change every time he flipped the page to another picture. She wasn't that bad either. He saw the picture that she drew of herself the first night of her arrival and noted the resemblance.

"These are really good," he said bemused.

Femka's smile came back though she was always shy at compliments.

"Okay, now draw me."

He looked serious and Femka laughed at his face for how stern it was. But her eyebrows rose when he didn't budge.

"What right now?" she giggled still.

"Well, maybe later. Actually, I should go back to Clank. I can't even remember why I came in here in the first place."

His comment made the woman laugh again. She put her sketch book on the table where it usually is and followed Ratchet with her eyes as he moved off of the bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," he uttered softly. "Good night."

"Good night."

Femka covered her body up under the blanket when he left the room. She rested her head easily on the pillow, beginning to fall asleep after a moment of quiet.


	7. Why Me?

**Chapter Six**

The light from the sun bounced off the glass and metallic buildings refracting its beams into Ratchet's room. The light hit Femka's eyes directly and slowly forced her out of REM. She squinted her tired eyes and rolled away to avoid the brightness. Was it morning already? Her hand rubbed against her eyes removing what sleep was there away. The woman stretched out her arms and legs with a mumbled squeak and sat up after about five or so minutes of laying there. Something was different about herself; she felt strange again. Her necklace wasn't glowing like it did several days ago but that awkward feeling settled in her stomach. She wasn't nervous about anything, that couldn't be it. Nausea? No, not that either. Femka wandered into the bathroom near her and yawned ignoring the feeling. The light instantly turned on before the door closed behind her. What she saw next nearly made her gasp out in absolute confusion. Her eyes were wide at the reflection that stared back at her in the mirror. Her hair. Her hair was a different color. The roots were changing color. She moved up to the mirror as close as she could get to examine the hair on her head. Her fingers sifted through it and rubbed on it.

"What the hell?" she said aloud.

From the crown of her head a few inches up was blue and purple. Femka just looked bewildered and slightly panicked. Did she eat something that did this to her? She didn't know. Maybe their food gives her species strange reactions? But, really? She ran to the shower in a hurry and tried scrubbing her hair as hard as she could. Maybe it would wash out with shampoo. Her eyes fixated on the floor to see if blue or purple coloring had distorted the water. Unfortunately the water looked normal and soapy with bubbles. The unnerved woman left the shower stall after no avail and wrapped herself in a towel just staring in the mirror and putting her hands through her hair. She noticed it was changing her eyebrows as well.

"What's going on?" she spoke aloud again. "How did this even happen?" She pondered the possibilities. "Let me think. It can't be anything I ate. Right?" Her head shook. "Put that idea aside for now. Think more rationally. Okay. Maybe… maybe the artifact did this. Yeah! When I touched it, and dropped it, I was electrocuted or something. I passed out. I've been feeling weird for days, and my necklace. My necklace keeps glowing. Why is it glowing? I don't know. I have no idea. Maybe when I was electrocuted something weird happened and now I have strange colored hair."

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief thinking her idea as stupid and she groaned putting her hands on her head.

"No, that's dumb! But what else?" Her eyes widened again. "Oh, my god. What if I contracted a horrible disease? Oh, my god!"

She remembered the button on the wall that Ratchet showed her the first night she was here and pressed it in a panic.

"Ratchet, I think you should come here and—Aah!"

She yelped unable to finish her sentence when the panel on the wall sparked with electricity the same color as her hair. She drew her hand away and stepped back as an error message came on the small digital screen on the wall. Femka held her hand breathing heavily and looked at it to see if it was hurt. It looked fine and there was no pain. The necklace around her was glowing again. She didn't know what to do or how to assess the circumstance even. She heard Ratchet on the other side of the door and Clank was by his side.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She replied "no" rather loudly and he opened the door without hesitation.

"What happened?" he looked around the bathroom wondering what went wrong.

He caught a glimpse of the error on the intercom component on the wall and tilted his head. He turned his view to Femka still wrapped in her towel. He didn't mean to stare at her so he looked away but consequently looked back again after noticing something different about her.

"Did you do something to your hair?"

"No! It was like this when I woke up!"

"Oh. You didn't eat anything weird, did you?"

"I don't know! But when I pressed that thing I almost got zapped for no reason!"

"That's pretty weird."

Ratchet scratched his ear looking back at the panel slightly confused. Clank seemed to be pondering the dilemma in his mind.

"Miss Femka, perhaps you should get changed and we will evaluate the matter then."

"Oh, yeah, right. You should do that," Ratchet said smiling nervously and sliding out of the room.

Femka sighed uneasily and dried herself off before getting changed into some clothes. The only thing she had to follow on was her own theory and it was so vague it just didn't make sense to her. Anyway, she left the bathroom with her hair tied back. The color spread more and her eyebrows were almost all blue and purple toned. She met Ratchet and Clank in the kitchen where breakfast had been put on hold when they came to her aid. She sat at her usual spot and waited for the two to join her. She was presented with something to eat when they sat down.

"So, what exactly happened?" Ratchet opened the floor.

"Alright. Last night, I was fine. I went to bed after you left the room and everything was okay. When I went to the bathroom, I looked in the mirror and my hair was this color—and I think it's spreading, too. I couldn't wash it out when I tried to either. And then I panicked and pressed the button on the wall and I almost was electrocuted."

"Is there anything else specific you can think of?" Clank added.

Femka thought for a second and then remembered some other small details.

"Well, my necklace was glowing when it happened and the sparks coming from the thing on the wall were the same color."

"Interesting. May I see your necklace?"

"Sure. Just be careful with it."

She slipped it off from around her neck and over her head. Clank examined it closely when she gave it to him. He definitely recognized the color as being similar to the artifact; the same goes for her hair. Clank recalled the very start of their journey when they had to retrieve the artifact up to the point where it broke.

"I have a theory."

The two looked at him with anticipation and he began.

"I believe that this gem on your necklace is the same material as the artifact. With that in mind, while in the short period we were near the artifact, it was being used as a power source. However, it overpowered the grid it was on within in seconds. I believe that when you broke the artifact it transferred its energy to you by means of using your necklace as a link. Perhaps when you panicked it triggered some of this energy and short-circuited the intercom's computer. And perhaps it goes the same way for the change in color of your hair, though I cannot say why for certain. Also, this is only my theory. It may be incorrect."

"Well, it's a pretty good theory," Ratchet shrugged his brows. "What do you think?"

"I… I guess it makes sense? I don't know. If that's really true, then what does it mean?"

"I suppose it means that you have a very powerful energy source resting inside your body as we speak."

"Hmm, maybe we should test something."

"Test what?"

Clank had asked as he watched Ratchet leave his seat and exit the kitchen. He came back moments later with a small electronic device in his hand.

"Test as in see if your theory is true. If Fem did short-circuit the intercom's computer then maybe she can do it again with something else."

"Yes, but it may only be circumstantial."

The little robot gave Femka's necklace back to her. She put it over her head and looked at Ratchet who was fiddling with the small device in his hands. His ears perked up when it turned on and he handed it to her.

"This is a pretty old comm-link. I think frying it shouldn't be too hard."

"But I don't know how I did it in the first place. I was just frightened and then suddenly—that!"

"It is as I said: circumstantial," Clank said with a nod of his head.

Ratchet put a hand on his chin to think.

"Well, just hang on to it then. Maybe you can practice with it. I mean, it's probably not a good idea to have an uncontrolled power source that surfaces whenever you panic."

Femka stared at the device and let her thoughts race in her mind. This was inconvenient. First she was taken from her home and now she has learned that she has a power to control that she didn't ask for. What next? The woman didn't want to think of it. Instead she just sighed and put the old comm-link beside her untouched breakfast.

"_Why doesn't anything make sense all of a sudden?"_ she thought. _"I didn't choose any of this. How is this fair? I was starting to have a revelation, too, and now this? This just sucks!"_ Femka poked at her food before she ate it finally. The look on her face said she was mildly frustrated but her expression changed when an idea struck her brain. "Clank," she said turning her direction to him, "if that artifact was the reason the wormhole was created, do you think it's possible to make another wormhole with my necklace?"

The small robot contemplated her question.

"I cannot say for certain." He shook his head. "The wormhole that was made cannot clearly be explained but in theory, maybe one could make another worm the same way the first was made. But Miss Femka, it was dangerous and an entire ship was destroyed in the process. Also, there is no guarantee that one would end up where they hope to be."

"Damn it." She huffed.

"I am sorry."

"It's alright. It was worth a shot anyway. But you're right. It's not like I have the power to control the universe."

Femka sighed putting her fork down on her plate. Her food was mostly gone but now she was just in another world (mentally speaking). She slid off of her chair taking the old communicator with her and placed her dishes in the sink. Her feet started to take her out of the room.

"Hey, where're you going? You're gonna miss _Blargian Roulette_."

Ratchet turned his head in Femka's direction pointing to the television with a promising disposition.

"I'll pass. I think I'm gonna go for walk, just for a little bit."

"Will you be alright by yourself, Miss Femka?" Clank asked a tad worriedly.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," the woman said waving her hand. "You guys showed me enough around that I can take a small walk without getting lost."

Femka prepared herself for her walk by putting on her shoes and grabbing her backpack to take out some items that she thought she may need. She pushed up her glasses and looked in the bathroom mirror at her hair. It was still changing. Her eyebrows were completely blue and purple toned now. Her hair was a bit lengthy going past her shoulders several inches. She sighed the smallest amount of annoyance through her nose and left the garage. It had barely been a week but she was adjusting alright. She was getting used to all the ships flying around and all the aliens about. Femka was still shy about communicating with strangers, however—even though most of them did look humanoid like her. There were always some species that would make her stare for a moment if she'd never seen them before. She didn't look too long. After an hour into her walk she spotted a place she wanted to venture to the other day but didn't get the chance to. It was some restaurant or café. Femka still wasn't all-knowing of the foods and beverages they served in this city, but slowly she was learning. Maybe they had something like coffee there. The young lady took her chances and went inside. She observed what they had on display and figured she would have to point at it since she couldn't read Markazian if she wanted to order it. She glanced around the café to see what other customers were drinking nearby. Well, it didn't do much good anyway. Her body turned to the clerk with an awkward smile and she tried ordering something regardless of knowing what it even was. Femka just pointed to the drink that looked like coffee and gave the Markazian up front the money. She took her hot drink and went outside with it sitting down on an open bench near the place. Her nose drifted over the cup to smell it carefully. It smelled nothing like coffee.

"Okay, here we go, I guess."

Her lips touched the rim of the cup and she took a small sip of the hot liquid.

"Hmm."

She drank again.

"That's not too bad. I have no idea what it is, but it tastes pretty good."

She continued to drink it more when it cooled down. Despite everything that felt wrong for her, right now was pretty good. The day was beautiful, whatever she was drinking was nice, the scenery was relaxing, and she was comfortable on this bench. A drastic improvement from last night and a couple hours ago. Her head tilted back and her eyes closed. She heard someone else sit on the bench beside her just a few inches away after a while. The daydream was abandoned when her eyes opened and she glanced discreetly at the person beside her. Oddly enough it was that Doctor Ipsin Ro. She pondered what species he was. He looked Markazian but he was sort of red. His tail looked a little different too. Maybe there were different colored Markazians? God, who knows! She wasn't schooled enough in this galaxy to make random assumptions about race quite yet. The gentleman happened to look in her direction and recognized her from those several days ago.

"Oh. Say, aren't you that woman who was with Ratchet?" he inquired.

"Uh, yeah. I was."

"I knew I recognized you," he laughed lightly. "I probably came off kind of angry that day. That was a pretty bad impression." He scratched the back of his head.

Femka smiled and looked in her cup.

"Well, it was about that artifact right? I guess I can't blame you for being angry about it."

"Ah, but I guess if it was meant to be, then what can I do, right?" he shrugged. "I don't think I've ever seen your species before." He examined her figure.

"I've never seen yours either," she added staring at him and sitting up straight.

"Yes, well, I'm not exactly from this galaxy. And you?"

"You could say the same thing goes for me, too."

"Aha, fair enough. What brings you to Meridian City?"

"_How the hell do I answer that?" _she thought before speaking aloud. "Oh, you know, the sights, the… people, I guess."

"I take it you must be staying with the Lombax and his friend?"

When he asked Femka simply nodded taking another sip of her drink and the man continued.

"Interesting. You know he's got quite the past behind him. Though, I'm pretty sure you've seen it all," he assumed.

"No." Her head shook.

"Really?" He seemed shocked. "How far away do you come from?"

"Far." She stressed the word.

"Oh, I see. Well, perhaps you should ask him about it," he laughed. "You'd have a night of stories, I assure you."

"Why? Did he do something bad before?" Her face looked somewhat alarmed.

"Oh, no, no. Uh… it's… hard to explain. But it is something you should investigate, nevertheless."

Femka was back to her imagination again.

"_I wonder what he did?"_ she thought.

The possibilities were endless for her. She liked to think of scenarios in her mind but this guy made it seem like he was notorious for something by the shock on his face when she said she heard nothing about him. Though, naturally she hadn't. She wasn't from here. And it hit her then. Ratchet was her friend but she knew nothing about him. It's only been a week, sure, but shouldn't you at least get to know the person whose bed you've been sleeping in a little bit? Oh, that made it kind of awkward now when she thought about it like that.

"I forgot to mention my name. I'm Ipsin Ro," he said breaking her daydream. "I'm a researcher at the National Museum of Science and Archeology here, but I think you know that already."

"I'm Femka. And yeah, Clank already told me. Nice to meet you, though."

"Likewise," he smiled brightly.

Surprisingly, he extended a hand to shake hers. Good to know that they still do that in this universe. Femka stuck out her hand for him and he caught a glimpse of her necklace. The shine immediately fascinated him.

"Your necklace. Where did you get that?"

"Oh. This? I got it from my grandma a long time ago."

"Interesting. Very interesting. It matches your hair color," he said unaware of the circumstance.

"Yeah, how 'bout that," Femka said upon taking another sip of her drink.

There was a bell that rang in the distance counting the number hours of the day it was so far. Ipsin looked at his comm-link for the time and gasped lightly.

"Crap. I need to get back to the museum." He stood up from his place. "Well, it was a pleasure to chat with you, Femka, but I need to move along. Perhaps we can chat again sometime? Until then, good luck in Meridian City," he said hurrying off in the direction of his employment.

"Sure, thanks and bye!" she waved and finished her drink. "Alright, time to go home."

The walk home was uneventful but nice in its own way. Femka took her time and finished her unknown drink along the way. When she entered the garage she could hear the two talking. The television was on and she picked up electric sound with her ears. Sounded like Ratchet was playing a video game. Before she stepped into the room where all the action was she caught her reflection on a metallic surface. Femka saw that her hair was all the same color now. It made her sigh and roll her eyes up with the "why me?" expression. She entered the room at last and noticed that Clank was sitting across the room reading something while Ratchet was in another spot on the couch playing his game. The mechanic's ears perked when Femka crossed the threshold of the entrance. She thought her dog when he did that and it always made her laugh on the inside. It was a thing she was still getting used to.

"Greetings, Miss Femka," the sentient robot welcomed her return.

"Hi," she said taking a seat on the other side of the sofa making the position of the lotus with her legs.

"How was your walk?" Ratchet asked still playing his game with an intense stare.

"Pretty nice. I ran into that guy, uh, Ipsin."

"He didn't bother you, did he?"

"No, not really. He seemed pleasant today; actually, he apologized for the other day, too. He seems like a nice guy." Her eyes were occupied on the screen as she spoke. "He was interested in my necklace, too."

"Oh, yeah, sure, no doubt. He probably noticed the material."

"Ratchet, that is only our theory," Clank put in flipping a page of his book.

"Yeah, but still, he's probably thinking the same thing. It's his job to notice things and make postulations."

"I believe it is only in his job to research a designated subject matter."

"And that's a designated subject matter."

Femka listened to the two disagree with one another for a minute before staring at her necklace again.

"_Where did you come from? What makes you so special?"_ she thought in her curious mind. _"If this is the same the material as that artifact then how did it get in more than one place? More than one universe? I wonder if there's more of this stuff out there?"_ She kept thinking until she heard Ratchet groan in disappointment aloud.

He had thrown back his head in anguish at the game over title on the screen.

"Aaah, Clank! See what you made me do?"

"I did not make you do anything. It is not my fault that you cannot diverge your attention to two subjects; or perhaps that you cannot play the game well in the first place," the little robot laughed his signature chortle.

Ratchet mocked his laugh sarcastically before looking at Femka with a roll of his eyes. She curled her lips to hold in a small chuckle of her own from the comedy of her friend's misfortune. She watched him start again from the mission he was playing and sat back relaxing into the cushions of the couch. She continued to watch and occasionally chat with two for a couple hours. It was that kind of day to be boring, and honestly it helped Femka to relax in her environment and to forget about her troubles. Throughout the day she asked Ratchet about his past when she was suddenly reminded of it when she looked at her necklace again. The topic surprised him at first but naturally he was glad to tell her everything—and Clank was there to make sure he didn't exaggerate the stories. It took the two an hour to give their adventures in a nutshell and then an additional two to explain the stuff in between. Femka was captivated the whole time. She couldn't believe some of it at first but she had to remind herself of where she was to begin with. It all seemed like a fairytale to her or really something that came from Hollywood or books. Villains, beasts, alien invasions, giant robots, death rays, time travel and everything else was covered. She had to ask a million questions just to understand one topic at a time. From her perspective, Ratchet and Clank were some kind of heroic ensemble, protecting the universe and fighting evil. It astounded her to no end. The story was interesting from a personal point of view. The Lombax wanted his share of adventure and got it, but after it kept coming he just wanted to live normally again. The development of his character interested her greatly. But Clank assured her that no matter what they did there would always be evil lurking in their universe to which Ratchet only sighed annoyed stating that it's not their problem. Even if it wasn't their problem, things seemed to make their way to the duo regardless. Ratchet concluded that anything wrong that happened was probably Captain Qwark's fault. Femka inquired about the strange man only knowing little about him, like what Ratchet described in his stories. Now, she knew more. Clank would clear the room of any bias, so Femka could judge for herself. They explained the fiendish Dr. Nefarious to her as well and even Percival Tachyon. Femka nearly had an input overload by the time they finished telling stories and explaining their lives to her. But now she knew more about her friends.

Now, it was her turn to share the spotlight and give them an insight of what her life was like. Unfortunately, she thought it would be dull compared to everything she just heard. Whether if it really was boring or not they listened keenly and asked their own questions and she answered them the best she could. She lived a completely different lifestyle. There was only one dominant species on her planet and hardly anything space-traveled save for satellites and the occasional man on the moon. She mentioned the different races of human beings on her planet and some of the animals that inhabited it also. The foreigner mentioned everything she could think of, even her friends or family and school life at her university. Her old life was very mundane in comparison to the one that was currently substituting it. Their culture exchange led them into the evening where Femka found herself pretty relaxed and happy. Though things were difficult at the moment, she tried to keep a positive outlook for her future, even if her hair was blue and purple and she was far away from home.

Come night Femka was in Ratchet's room making the bed ready for her sleep and getting into some night clothing as well. When she pulled the covers away that were tucked into the mattress under the pillows she remembered that it wasn't her bed—Ratchet had been sleeping elsewhere—and she felt bad. She left his room into the dark hallway that was barely lit by some small green lights on the floor. Everyone went to bed for the night, she assumed, but when she checked the living room where Ratchet had been sleeping, he wasn't there. Femka was curious enough to search for him. He must still be awake. There was a metal staircase that spiraled up to another floor near her. She saw a brighter light coming from a hallway it reached up to and decided to ascend the stares. When she made it to the top of the stares, down the hallway was a glass-type door that led to the outside. As she approached the door Ratchet's figure was seen on the other side standing there leaning against a rail. Femka quietly entered on the terrace and the Lombax turned his head slightly upon hearing the door and her footsteps. His tail motioned back and forth with a curious look about his face.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now," he said turning his head away from her gazing outward.

"Well, I was looking for you." She stood by his side and leaned on the rail as well. "I was wondering if you wanted your bed back yet. I can't imagine it being all that comfortable on a couch."

"Hey, you'd be surprised." A smile cracked through his lips. "No, actually, that thing is pretty uncomfortable to sleep on, but I wouldn't subject you to it."

Femka smiled breathing a quick exhale through her nose when she did and looked down at the city below.

"Were you always this self-sacrificing?" she questioned looking back to him.

"Nah. It took a lot of tries and failures for me to get to where I am today, sharing my bed with strangers."

She giggled lightly through her nose. 

"Ratchet," she spoke quietly, "I know last night you told me you were the only one of your kind left and you mentioned it again in your story, but," she paused. "But I wanted to know, how do you cope so well with it?" She stared at him.

A small sigh left his nostrils before he spoke as he kept his eyes outward.

"Well, I never had a mom or a dad to take care of me. I never had friends who were just like me or looked like me. It's… hard to miss something that you never really had."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, no, it's alright." He turned to look in Femka's direction to continue. "I know my parents are gone and my species might be gone, too, but I cope well, because I've learned from all the things I've been through. I did mean it when I said I had to go through lots of tries and failures to get to where I am today. But on that note, even back then, I probably still would've shared my bed—but only because you're a girl."

She couldn't help but smile and chuckle again at his comment. At least he was being honest; and she felt flattered as well.

"I'll take your word, then."

Femka looked out with her friend to the city and the sky above it. Some of the stars could be seen as well as other planets through the light pollution. It was a beautiful place. She wished that she brought her camera or something to capture it and keep it forever.

"Ratchet," Femka asked while pointing up, "what's that planet?"

The mechanic gazed upward.

"That's Jasindu, home to some very hostile alien life. It's very pretty there, though."

The woman continued to stare up at it through her glasses. It seemed so close to them but she only imagined how far away it really was. She continued to gaze at the vast amount of space above her and daydream. Ratchet brought his head back to level with the horizon and stared somewhat bemusedly with an arched brow at Femka who was almost in a trance with her chin in the air. He gathered that she was one to get lost in thought pretty easily. He took his perplexity elsewhere when he noticed to men walking on the other side of the airway. One of them was Ipsin; the other was a colleague of his.

"Man, that guy is weird." Ratchet asserted with a shake of his head wondering why he was walking around aimlessly this late at night.

He turned back to Femka who was still in her own world and tugged on her ponytail with a whistle to get her attention.

"Hey, I'm going inside."

"Huh? Oh."

Femka came back to reality quickly and followed her friend back inside the garage. Sleep was starting to knock at her door anyway. She said goodnight to him and went to his room to tuck herself in for the night. She was out within moments and dreaming of tomorrow.


	8. Special Date

_Author: It's been moving rather slow but this is where it starts to pick up again._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

About twelve days had gone by since the incident with the intercom panel and Femka still had no reaction to anything else ever since. It was nice and quiet living at the garage but there was no progression as far as getting the woman home went. Her fondness for Igliak was growing, though. In the past two weeks she had been attempting to learn some Markazian but was finding that to be a little difficult. Their alphabet was rather large and that was the first place to start. Clank offered her a book that was written in Kyzilian for those on Veldin who wished to learn the language but she still couldn't read that either. Logically, Clank asked her to exchange her language for theirs and they would work from there on. The woman couldn't keep frustration off her shoulders, so she settled on just learning how to read Kyzilian and then Markazian later. On one morning she was practicing her alphabet, sitting at a table and writing down the letters carefully and meticulously. She even figured out how to write her name all on her own. Yet another small victory she cherished. This was her hobby, though, and her job back on Earth. She was a translator—she loved to do this kind of stuff. After making some minor breakthroughs in the strange language she wanted to leave the garage for a little while to get some fresh air. Ratchet and Clank seemed to be busy most days, given that the Lombax was a mechanic, so he needed to work. When he was occupied, Femka would just do her own thing and exploring Meridian was one of them. The woman took to using the trams and the skyline finally without feeling nervous when the cars would teleport to another line. Outside of one of the cars she was in she could see a building up ahead that was rather large. She heard a voice over the intercom label the destination. It was the museum. The woman shrugged and exited onto the platform when the tram stopped in front of the building. She decided to go inside and see what it was all about. To her surprise (once more) the entrance was free and she was able to wonder in at her leisure and explore. Too bad she couldn't read the labels on the museum displays. This only made her more determined to learn the language. During her expedition she saw a familiar person. Anyone could guess that it was Ipsin.

"_He must be working, right?"_ she mentally deduced.

She thought it would be nice to say hello to him anyway and traveled over to the area he was managing. He turned around in time to see the young woman approaching him and he smiled with a wave.

"Long time no see," he said.

"Hiya," Femka smiled back. "Are you working?"

"Only for a few more minutes. I have a break soon. I was going to go out to that café you were at before. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure," she nodded. "I haven't eaten yet, actually, so that'd be nice."

"Perfect. I'll be at the entrance to the museum in about fifteen minutes. We'll rendezvous then and be on our way, alright?"

"Sounds, good. See you soon."

Femka watched him walk off and she decided to take a look around while she had the time to spare until fifteen minutes were up. There seemed to be a lot to indulge in at the museum; Femka would have to come back some other time to explore the rest of it. When she reached the entrance Ipsin was already there waiting for her. He was rather punctual. She hurried her pace a bit and they were off on the tram. They talked a little bit along the way about their weeks since the last time they saw each other and continued the conversation when they arrived at the café. Femka stuck to the familiar item that she bought before and Ipsin ordered something the woman never saw here before—something sweet. When they sat down he offered some of it to her. She immediately went back inside and bought one for herself and came back to the discussion with a new favorite treat.

"So, how's living with the infamous mechanic?"

"Hm?" Femka looked up from her drink. "Oh! Well, it's nice, I suppose. I did get around to asking him about his past like you said I should. I wasn't disappointed. But it was definitely interesting."

"Of course!" he laughed. "I'm sure he's pretty fond of you by now, too," he winked an eye.

Femka shook her head quickly and smiled shyly.

"No, no, nooo… I don't think so."

"Why not? You're very beautiful."

She continued to shake her head, disagreeing with the doctor.

"I'm pretty sure we're just friends."

"Ah, if you say so, but that means you're available," he said boldly taking a drink of his warm brew.

"I think I'll keep playing hard to get, then," she stressed with a high, confident lift of her head.

He laughed lightheartedly at her response and proceeded to eat his lunch. To him that was sort of attractive. Femka seemed that she would be very firm on her feet when it came to men flirting with her. She was a beautiful woman—not picture perfect, but she didn't need to be. Her personality was very intrepid and solid. That's not all that was nice to appreciate. Her figure was slim and gorgeous. Her upper body was exempt of a voluptuous chest but what was there was perfect for her body type. She was lean and athletic. Whatever she decided to wear today was definitely accenting every curve on her body. Oh, to say that he liked Femka was a bit of an understatement, but he was a gentleman, nonetheless. He wasn't about to invade her privacy or make her feel any more uncomfortable. She did tell him she would be playing hard to get in any case. Maybe next time. For now, they just enjoyed the rest of their lunch and continued to chat about whatever came into their minds. Femka enjoyed his company, though, and was disappointed when they had to part ways.

"Oh, before I get back to work," the researcher began, "perhaps we could get together again sometime? Maybe we could go to the holo-plex and see a movie—if you want to, that is."

"That would be nice, sure," she smiled calmly.

"Oh. Good! Good. How about three days from now, when I get out of work, nineteen hours?"

"Three days, nineteen hours." Her head nodded.

"Great! I'll come get you from the Lombax's garage."

"It's a deal," she smiled.

With that he was off in a hurry to get back to work. Femka was excited about her movie date. In her mind, on the other hand, she never really considered anything with a guy a date. She didn't date. She tried it once and it didn't work out so well. Every time she went out with a person of the opposite gender—and even if they invited her—she still considered it "hanging out", no matter what the "date" was. Admittedly, she did think Ipsin was attractive in his own way. Strange. She never thought she would consider a species other than hers attractive. Well, she barely found her species attractive to begin with. Femka thought about the topic the whole way home. When she entered the garage through the hanger she saw that Ratchet wasn't in there and continued to the building attached to it where he lived. He was in the kitchen taking a break of his own. The woman went in to take a seat across from him at the island counter in the stool she was accustomed to. She waved to him and he waved back unable to speak with his mouth full of food. Clank walked into the room a second later with a paper for Ratchet. As he held it out to him the mechanic looked it over and took it from his small hand. His eyes rolled followed by a grunt and he spoke in aggravation with his mouth partially full of food.

"I just fixed this, like, five days ago! This has to be a re-print."

"Unfortunately, no," Clank corrected. "Mister Bornu damaged his ship forgetting that he left the gear in reverse, consequently flying into his house."

Ratchet loosened his annoyed face up for a second to laugh at the reason of damage but soon returned to being unhappy since he had to repair his ship once again.

"Did you give him an appointment?"

"Yes. I recalled that there was an open spot for fourteen hours today, so I told him to come by then."

"Great", Ratchet griped with a large swallow of his food. "So, how was _your_ afternoon?" he asked the daydreaming Femka.

She couldn't help but smile with raised brows at the irritated Lombax.

"It was good. I went to the museum and ran into Ipsin… again."

"Yeah, that's a surprise."

"We went to lunch together and in a few days we're gonna go to the movies apparently."

"Aw, and then you guys are gonna start holding hands."

Femka looked at the man across from her with a very dry expression. He only laughed at her for that reason. She wasn't laughing at all.

"We are not going on a date. Don't people just hang out anymore for fun? You know I don't see your girlfriend anywhere."

"That is because Ratchet does not have a girlfriend," Clank said joining their discussion at the table. "He cannot hold a relationship for very long nor is he very good with women."

"What? How would you know?" Ratchet argued. "I'm very good with women, thank you very much." He seemed proud when he spoke and he turned to Femka. "He has no idea what he's talking about."

"Oh, really?" she chuckled amusedly.

"C'mon." His head tilted just a bit and he leaned in more with a brow arced and his face a cool expression. "You'd date me."

"No." Her head shook.

Ratchet's ears and body went up straight while Clank appeared to have a victorious stare about him.

"Ouch," he said raising one corner of his mouth as his ears fell.

"Don't take it personally. It's just that I don't date period. I think it's kind of a waste of time. And I'd rather make friends and…," she explained feeling bad at the face that Ratchet gave her. "If it's any consolation, hypothetically speaking, if I was to think of dating as not a waste of time, I would go on a date with you."

Ratchet shook his head slowly at her with perked brows but smiled anyway. It was all in fun at any rate. Femka smiled back at him taking a piece of food off of his plate to try it and he scooted the dish loser to her having said he was finished with it. Upon putting another bite of food in her mouth an electronic voice over the intercom announced a visitor. It must be that guy who flew his ship into his house. Ratchet mumbled under his breath before leaving that Markazians weren't only bad at dancing but flying as well. Femka watched him and his partner leave the kitchen to tend to their customer and finished off the leftover food on his plate. The rest of the day she spent trying to master more of Kyzilian phonetics and things of that trade while the duo was at work until late evening. It gave her something to do anyway. She would play some of Ratchet's game from time to time, but when it came to a portion that required her to read, she had no idea and usually just ignored it. Learning some Kyzilian would definitely prove handy in the long run. Though she needed a foundation for the languages she was attempting to learn, Clank did mention that Veldin was sparsely inhabited and not many people spoke its languages to begin with. Well, she'd already come this far, so Femka wanted to keep going. But Markazian was definitely next on her list.

The next three days she spent doing just about the same things she had been doing all her stay. Drawing, studying, other mundane things. It was only midday and she was looking forward to her movie "date" tonight with Ipsin. Her two hosts were busy—as they almost always were—tending to the shop. Sometimes she watched them work; and it was interesting to see it all happen. She never witnessed a rocket being assembled before—or disassembled for that matter. The job seemed rather technical but Ratchet made it look easy, because of his vivacious demeanor. No matter how hard she tried to rationalize it, everything still seemed unreal at some point and she observed all the ships that came in to dock and the aliens that came along with them she smiled so engrossed in it all. Aside from just watching Ratchet work and studying his customers, Femka new she needed to get herself ready soon before Ipsin came to pick her up. She had a few more hours relax and what better to spend your time on than practicing foreign languages. Her dedication wore thin after about two hours of studying, so she only took in so much knowledge throughout the day—breaks not accounted for; otherwise, she learned a lot in one day's worth of practicing her Kyzilian. Femka found her eyes on the clock when it was less than one hour until her "date" came. She went to prepare herself for the outing, getting dressed in the bathroom into something not too formal but not so casual—she wasn't out to impress the guy after all; also her wardrobe was still limited. The intercom in the bathroom was still on the fritz. Ratchet hadn't gotten around to repairing it yet. The others worked fine. And to prove that point, the voice appeared again when a visitor came into the garage while Femka was readying herself. Ratchet was done working by then and went to the main door of the establishment to answer it only to see Ipsin standing there with a small smile. He completely forgotten about that thing they were doing and stared scrupulously at Ipsin with a why-are-you-here-look to accompany said stare.

"I'm here for Femka?" his voice perked unsure of what to say.

"Oh, yeah. I'll go get her for you."

The Lombax left Ipsin in the foyer to retrieve the man's "date". The alien looked about the shop with his eyes what he could see from where he was standing. He'd actually never been at the mechanic's establishment before having not needed a repair to his ship. From what he could gather it seemed orderly in some places and in others a complete mess. His ears picked up Femka's voice as she made her way near the door talking with Ratchet. She greeted the man with her warm smile and began walking out the door with him to his ship waving back to Ratchet. It occurred to the woman that she hadn't been in a ship since she arrived in Polaris—and the first time it didn't really count, because she was unconscious. For that fact she was nervous just to step inside. Sure, she enjoyed flying in planes back on Earth but that in itself was frightening sometimes. Femka wouldn't let her anxiety show, though. She wanted to blend in with the life style. She already dug a hole for herself earlier when she said she just out of the galaxy not mentioning the real story. Ipsin probably thinks she's just an out-of-towner and that she's already flown to other places plenty of times. She would've had to flown to get to Igliak, right? Oh, brother… Luckily Ipsin was good at keeping her attention with a nice conversation. She needed a distraction. He was just telling her the itinerary for their evening. He picked out a movie for them to see first, something he hoped she would enjoy, then came dinner second and afterwards a walk and then straight to bed.

The movie was beginning soon, so Ipsin made sure to get there quickly so they wouldn't miss a thing. Once again, she had to hide her surprise at the movie theatre when she saw it. It was much more grandiose than anything she'd seen on Earth. However, she was informed that Meridian was the capital city of the Polaris galaxy. Maybe that's why things here were so amazing and over the top. Femka kept her amazement to herself, only commenting that it was a nice theatre. She was still allowed to pretend that she was a tourist, since she sort of was one. The two entered and made way to the movie that Ipsin picked out for them. It was a Suspense Drama of some kind. Femka had been watching lots of television (or holo-vision) during her stay but this was the first cinematic film she would be seeing in a theatre. She was excited to some extent and the company she was with was making it more the worthwhile. Even the start of the film made her think of the movies at home. She didn't consciously mean to make comparisons but she couldn't help it. When the opening credits rolled on her eyes were seized by the screen and she barely blinked. Throughout the holo-film, Ipsin would look her way to see if she was enjoying herself or not. By the entranced expression on her face he could assume safely that she really was having a good time. So when it was time for the end credits he definitely made sure to look again at her expression and it was still in the same place. It made him laugh on the inside.

Femka exited the theatre at Ipsin's side giving commentary about the movie describing what parts she liked most and what parts she didn't. Overall, it was a success. Dinner was next on the list of things to do and the researcher suggested a place that was pretty casual and served nice late dinners. It was already passed twenty-one hours at the time they arrived and Femka was starving. She asked Ipsin to help hear read the menu. At least she could get away with that. When she ordered something that sounded good she told Ipsin about her self-language courses. He seemed impressed that she wanted to learn something as difficult as Markazian. Ipsin commented that it took him years to learn, since it wasn't his mother tongue but it didn't intimidate the woman's young mind at all. They continued to discuss similar topics and share small bits of information about each other while they enjoyed their late night dinner. Afterwards the two went for a walk through the city. Femka made it a point for Ipsin to know that she wanted to go home soon. It was late and she was getting tired. He told her about a shortcut that would take them back to the ship in about ten minutes or less. She followed by his side through a tight alleyway. The moon was directly above them and Femka stared up at it as they walked. The moon's light made the alley brighter than it would have been without it. Femka's gaze came back down when she heard other footsteps quickly approaching them. She looked behind her to see two men hurrying in their direction. It worried her for some reason. Ipsin didn't seem to notice but the woman kept looking back when they continued to get closer. Her pace quickened and her friend stared at her quizzically when she did. His head looked back and he saw the men coming closer. His face retained its puzzled expression and walked quickly with her. He made the suggestion to turn around a corner and she agreed. But after a minute they were still trailing behind them adamantly.

"Are they following us?" Femka whispered keeping a fast pace.

"I have no idea," he replied hurrying again. "Let's go."

He took her hand and they began running ahead. The nervous Femka turned her head back just an inch to get a glimpse at the two strangers running faster and faster behind them. She was frightened now. What did they want? Were they robbers or something? Something worse…? It didn't matter how fast they ran ahead, they reached a dead end in moments. There was a large wall in front of them and Femka turned around. The two men were shadowed by the buildings where the light from the moon hit the other side. Slowly they moved forward. She saw a gun in one of the stranger's hands. Her body was stiff and petrified with fear. Femka stayed by Ipsin's side holding on to his arm.

"Stay back!" Ipsin yelled. "Leave us alone!"

His words didn't affect the shadowed figures nearing. When they came closer Femka could see some of their features. They kind of looked like Ipsin. Before another thought ran through her mind one of the men came running again at them. Ipsin moved in front of Femka who screamed from the sudden jump of the attacker. He lunged at the researcher taking a swing at his face and tossing him onto the ground by grip of his arm kicking him in the side with his foot. Femka was frightened beyond belief after that display and the other came closer, the one with the gun. His partner kept a grip on Ipsin when he tried to get up again. When the man pointed his gun at her coming closer he made an odd demand pointing to her chest. It was the necklace. Probably for the fact that it looked like jewelry; it was already glowing again, as well.

"Give it," he said in a low voice.

"What?"

"The charm, give it over or I'll kill you and your friend."

Her face stiffened and she looked down at the necklace as the blue and purple light gleamed out from the stone. Did he know what it really was? No. That's not right. It was just a theory anyway. But what if? What if it really was the same material as the artifact? All that stuff she discussed with Ratchet and Clank a couple weeks ago, it could be true. She needed to think of something. That man was getting impatient with her.

"C'mon, bitch, I don't have all day!" His finger nearly pressed on the trigger.

"Just give it to him, Femka!" Ipsin yelled as the other man kicked him again causing him to cough.

Femka quivered an exhale through her nose. Her eyes remained on the malicious stranger in front of her and her hand traveled around her neck to pull off the necklace. She had an idea surge through her brain. She quickly grabbed the comm-link Ratchet had given her after that morning's incident and squeezed on it in panic as the electric shock came rushing out from it and she threw it at the man. It hit him on the neck electrocuting him as he fell and hit the ground. The other man watched with an alarmed face. Femka noticed the residual sparks on her hand and with a face just as alarmed as the man standing over Ipsin she charged at him and put her hands on his face giving him the same amount of voltage as his cohort and let him fall on the floor hard with convulsions. Ipsin sat up from the ground and watched in amazement and utter confusion. Femka was still in a mode of panic as the sparks from her hands still emanated. She struggled with her other communicator knocking it off her belt with her elbow and stepped on one of the buttons to call Ratchet. When he answered she couldn't speak right and all she did was talk in circles starting to cry when she did. He told her to stay as calm as she could while he made his way there. She kept the line open as the comm-link remained on the ground. She was afraid to touch it. The two men slowly rose from off the ground and stared at the woman with electric hands.

"Get away from me…," her voice shook. "I'll do it again… I'm warning you…!"

They both started to step away from her and above them a ship was coming. They looked up as the wind blew around heavily from the vessel's mass. Ratchet came hovering down with Clank's help and with the boots that he wore. The men backed further away when he touched the ground holding his wrench at hand. He smiled smugly at the looks on their faces and watched them run off in fear. Ipsin was finally alright to stand on his own two feet when Ratchet began toward Femka. Clank detached himself off of Ratchet's back and walked alongside him noticing the fright on the young woman's face. Femka was looking at her hands as the sparks were fading away. She sniffled through her nose and glanced at Ratchet who was nearing her. She didn't wait for him. She ran straight to him seeking his comfort and hid her face in his neck letting her tears slide down her face.

"It'll be alright. I'm here. Everything's fine." He spoke softly holding her tight and doing his best to keep her calm.

"I want to go home…," she said in a quiet squeak.

"We'll go home."

She nodded her head weakly and kept her face hidden in him. Clank walked over to the woman's communicator and picked it up meanwhile looking at poor Ipsin. He had an injury on his face and a couple scrapes from falling on the ground so violently.

"Are you alright, Doctor Ro?" the concerned little robot asked.

"Yeah." He breathed deeply wiping his lip of some blood. "I'll be fine. I'm worried for Femka, mostly."

"Do not worry too much. She is in our excellent care."

"Just make sure she gets better."

"Affirmative. But will you need a lift home?" His eyes blinked slowly with a turn of their metal shutters.

"It's alright. My ship isn't that far from here. I'll be fine," he reassured with a faint smile.

Ratchet looked over to Clank giving him the signal that they would be leaving now. Clank made his way back to his friend as the Lombax took out the hypershot to grapple them back onto the ship hovering steadily above their heads. He held onto Femka tightly with one arm and Clank balanced on Ratchet's foot and leg as they were pulled upward until the bottom hatch closed after they entered the ship. Ipsin watched the ship take off in the other direction and sighed deeply starting his walk back to his own vessel. He needed to get some first aid for the cuts he received. His side wasn't feeling so great as well.

The three arrived back at the garage well passed zero hour already. Femka was still shaking to some extent when Ratchet led her inside by guide of his hand. Clank returned her comm-link to the table she was using in Ratchet's bedroom while his friend took Femka to the bathroom to wash up. The tears on her face were dried up now but her eyes were red and tired. Ratchet took a washcloth and dampened it with warm water giving it to Femka to wipe her face with. She sniffled again when she was finished with the small towel. Her tired eyes looked at the mechanic with embarrassment and lingering fear. He smiled with a concerned face and gently pushed the hair in front of her face away placing it behind her ears. Her lips curved to form a little smile back at him and she wrapped her arms around him for a hug resting her head on his shoulder.

She opened her mouth just a little after a small moment of quiet.

"I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"Why are you sorry?" he said cutting her off.

"I don't know…"

"Fem. Nothing that happened was your fault. You're just lucky you didn't get hurt. You shouldn't be walking around so late in alleyways."

"That's why I'm sorry…," she said wanting to shed tears again.

"Fem, I'm just glad you're okay," he said placing his hands on her shoulders to look at her shy face. "So, there's no reason to be sorry. Just promise you won't take anymore late walks," he said with an awkward smile.

"I promise."

"Good." He smiled more easily rubbing her shoulders with his hands. "Would you like to go bed?" he asked looking at the woman with a dipped head and cute eyes.

His faces made her feel better or whenever he looked at her like that. She gave him a small smile. But she wasn't sure that she'd be able to sleep right away. Her head shook lightly before she gave him an audible answer.

"Would you like me to stay up with you until you fall asleep?"

Femka nodded her head softly and Ratchet chuckled through his nose.

"I'll let you get changed or do whatever you need to do and when you're finished come get me."

There was one more nod of her head and the Lombax let her to her business with the door closing behind him. Femka looked at her face in the mirror seeing the red in her eyes. Her nose sniffled yet another time and she held the charm of her necklace in her hand. There was a faint glow that gave her chills when she stared into it. The woman left the bathroom only to return a minute later with her night clothes. She took a quick shower and changed into her pajamas. Her nerves were calming but she was still in shock of the event that came about. It didn't make sense to her why two random guys wanted her necklace. Were they following her the whole night or something just to be able to get a good glimpse at it? It wasn't big, so how could they know what it was from so far away? And who threatens to kill two people over a necklace if they didn't know its theoretical ability? They must have known what it was—but it just seemed so impossible! She wanted to dwell more on the subject but it just hurt her rattled head. Femka went into the kitchen to get herself something to drink before hunting down Ratchet. She took her glass with her and found him in the living room picking up some junk that was scattered on the floor. She cocked her head to the side a bit and spoke.

"What're you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I, uh, before I left to get you I sort of flew over the table and knocked all this stuff off of it. If you wondered how I got there so fast, well, there ya go."

Femka's smile came back and she went over to help him pick up the things that were all over the floor.

"Thank you, Ratchet."

"You don't have to thank me." His head shook lightly. "Remember what I said? I'm there for you if you need me. I promised."

The woman felt her cheeks go warm as she watched him finish up his minor cleaning job. She couldn't keep the gentle smile away from her face despite the events that happened earlier. She patiently waited for him to finish standing near the uncomfortable couch and drinking what liquid was left in her cup. Ratchet placed the things back on the table where they were before he fumbled over them and turned to Femka with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, that's taken care of. Would you like to get to bed finally?" he smiled.

"Mhm," Femka answered with the same smile.

Ratchet escorted her down the hallway and back to the room he hadn't slept in about three weeks or so. She crawled onto the bed placing her glasses on the table, along with her translator, leaving it on of course. She sat Indian style with her legs folded over each other and patted the bed to invite her friend on to it. He gladly joined her taking up the other half of the bed sitting like she did. Femka brought one of the pillows onto her lap and then placed it next to (slightly against) Ratchet laying her head on it and sighing quickly from her mouth. He glanced down at her hunched over somewhat and smiled softly.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm alright. I'm not as shook up anymore."

"Good."

There was a moment of silence for awhile. Femka was still awake, though, when Ratchet spoke again.

"So, I talked to Clank while you were in the bathroom and I thought it would be a nice idea to show you around the galaxy or maybe leave Polaris and show you something else. He was so worried about you he suggested some place like Pokitaru to help loosen you up," he chuckled softly.

Femka's head turned to see Ratchet from below and her eyes looked up at him.

"What's Pokitaru again?"

She remembered vaguely the name from the stories that he told her those days ago.

"It's that really nice place that the Blargians dumped all their waste into. It's in the Solana galaxy, where I grew up. It's a resort planet."

"A whole planet dedicated just for one purpose?"

"Yep. But it's up to you if you want to go or not." He looked back down to her.

Her eyes blinked as they moved away from his view to think about it. Of course she wanted to go. She wanted to see everything this universe had to offer.

"If we go to Pokitaru, can I see Veldin next?" she asked looking back up at him.

"You wanna see Veldin?" He looked surprised yet glad when she nodded her head. "Of course we can go."

"When are we gonna leave?"

"Hmm, how's this weekend sound? It'll give me time to finish up work in the garage and after we can get going. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds perfect…," she spoke with a yawn in the way of her words.

Within a matter of minutes Femka was out like a light. The uneasiness she would feel in her stomach when things were wrong was disappearing. If it was still there even she was too tired to notice anymore. She was off to dreamland muttering a small goodnight to the person next to her. She felt lucky to have someone like him by her side. The last thought she had in her head was that he was so much like her friend Alexander back home. She admired him just as much as well and like her Earthling friend, she'd come to know so much about the Lombax in such a short period of time. She liked being this close to him. He proved to her today that he meant what he said before and that he would keep her safe. There were no obligations either. And that's what made it more special to Femka.

When she drifted away into her slumber a loose thought invaded her mind weary of a nightmare—she didn't want that. That's what she was scared of. She was afraid she'd have a nightmare about what happened today and that it could play as something worse in her mind. But the thought was released as her dreams took over and created something completely different. It seemed like it would be a nice dream; but Femka always thought of her dreams as weird. They never made sense to her. Nothing connected together. In other words, her dreams were rather nonsensical. Tonight was no exception either. Her dream started back on planet Earth. It'd been over two weeks since she had a dream about home. The backgrounds of her dreams were always unclear and fuzzy but her subconscious knew where the place was. She was at home with her friend Alexander. They were walking and talking about something. Ah. She was telling him about her journey through space. She was describing the planet she was on. Some of the context was out of place and some things were added in that never happened. There was laughter spilling out from her mouth when she was with her friend. Her dream shifted to something else eventually. Now she was back on Igliak or maybe some kind of made up planet. She was walking outside during the evening and she came to find Ratchet who said he was looking for his wrench. Femka said she would help him find it but instead found something that looked like a banana. She was even confused in her dream and tossed it aside turning back to Ratchet who was sitting down now and inviting her to come join him by a fountain. When she did, she sat close to him and leaned against him resting the side of her head on his shoulder. He motioned his head to smile in her direction wrapping one arm around her and taking her hand in his. Her fingers laced with his and she smiled at him.

"I like you," she said still smiling at the man beside her; her cheeks were rosy.

"I like you, too," he said back.

The last thing she did in her dream was kiss him and it sent chills up her spine in her reverie. She kissed one person before in her life that wasn't her mother or father and it didn't feel like this. This was a dream but it felt real. The texture of his face was different than hers and she felt every detail in her dream. So, that's how she really felt, wasn't it? Her dreams liked to exaggerate, though. But would it be something she would forget come morning? Undoubtedly not. She didn't want that dream to end.


	9. What Else Could Go Wrong?

**Chapter Eight**

Femka's eyes cracked open revealing the blurry dark room. The sun still hadn't come up yet. She was only sleeping for a few hours. There was a warm feeling next to her body. She sleepily looked over to see Ratchet lying next to her with his back against her. Her face immediately woke up realizing she was spooning him and took her arm away from being wrapped around him. She rolled over with the tiniest bit of red blush slowly consuming her face. She tried to justify her actions by thinking that she just needed someone to hold. She did it with Alexander back home, so what was the difference now? Maybe sexual orientation. Her friend _is_ of a different persuasion, so to speak; he only likes males. When he and Femka would lie together, they had no intensions of seeing each other as lovers, only really close friends. Femka wanted to treat this instance just as such but her thoughts led her to the dream she just had after awhile and she immediately reddened hiding her face in the pillow underneath her head. She refused to let this go as something normal. It was breaking her set of personal laws. When it came to love, Femka never found anyone physically attractive or able to grab her attention so well. She had one boyfriend but she never considered it serious. (Truthfully, she didn't like it after awhile.) The Lombax, however, shouldn't be exempt from her rules. Femka tried to fall back asleep and tried to think about something else other than that dream. She succeeded and faded out into a deep sleep that would last her until later in the day.

It was noon by the time Femka woke up. Her eyes were ridden with sleep dust when she opened them slowly. Her hands rubbed at her eyes and she sat up with a yawn. Ratchet had left the bed a short time ago to tend to the shop with Clank. She immediately reminded herself about what happened during the night and the shy feeling returned. Butterflies in her stomach, that's what she had. She only hoped it wouldn't make things too awkward. She'd try her best not to let it show. The task wasn't too difficult after the day passed on. Femka let her mind go to work with distractions like practicing her languages and maybe drawing a picture here and there. Simple things like that—even playing some video games. The only problem was that she didn't talk too much today. The next day was sort of the same. Actually, Ipsin stopped by to apologize for had happened. He felt so awful, she could see it all over his face. He wanted to make it up to her by taking her out again soon—and not so late in the night—but Femka declined. She told him about their plans to go to Pokitaru this weekend. The researcher just wished her a safe journey and a good time and then he was off as fast as he came. Femka felt bad that she had to turn him down but she really wanted to escape the city, just for a moment if anything. The rest of the time until the trip the astute, little translator continued her practicing. She was getting along pretty well with Kyzilian. Clank offered to help speak with her so she could practice with the translator device off. She only knew how to say so much, though. But she could read the letters now and make some of the sounds well enough. It excited her whenever she was told how good of a job she was doing.

Eventually it was the morning for them to leave. Femka had done some research on the holo-net using what Kyzilian she knew and typed in Pokitaru just to see what pictures would come up. Judging by the images it was unquestionably a beautiful place. She was well-animated that morning and it seemed like the events from days ago were no longer in her mind. She went on the hunt for a bathing suit that would accommodate for her lack of a tail the other day and it took her awhile but she found something she could work with. She joined Clank and Ratchet in the hanger as they were preparing for departure.

"Are you ready, Miss Femka?" Clank greeted her with the question when she walked in.

"You bet!" she replied fast and elated.

"Excellent. Have you everything that you will need for our trip?"

Femka looked at all the things she was carrying with her. Her face was molded into a scrupulous one until she nodded with a smile pretty sure that she had everything.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"And will you be alright flying through space?" Clank tilted his head curiously.

"Well…" Femka pondered about it before speaking again. "I'll manage. Besides, I've been looking forward to this all week, so I don't want my anxiety to get in the way."

"Then I am sure that you will be just fine," he smiled walking beside her to the ship. "Is everything in order?" he asked Ratchet. "I believe that it is imperative you check thoroughly this time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the mechanic exhaled with an exasperated sigh.

"Ratchet…" Clank tapped his foot and stared with narrowed eyes.

"It's fine. I promise. I checked everything _thoroughly_ and it's good to go," Ratchet stressed hopping into the vessel and peeking his head out seconds after. "Now, if _you're_ ready…"

The two hurried up into the ship as their pilot initiated its computer. It was a different ship than the one Femka was brought in. This one was meant to go through warp drive and travel at fast speeds. Femka was a little nervous when it started to hover higher but she tried to stay focused on something else. She was a little used to flying but it was the thought of going through space that was getting her worked up. She took a seat behind the two and latched her seatbelt securely around her chest.

"How long will it take to get there?" she asked as the hanger opened slowly.

"It shouldn't be more than sixteen hours."

"_That's all?"_ she thought in her mind.

She had no idea how far the galaxies were from each other but if it only took sixteen hours then they must not be far apart, right? Or was space travel really that insane? If that's the case, then Femka would be sure to hang on to her seat and pray she'd make it out alive.

Ratchet steered the ship swiftly out of the hanger to the garage and through some traffic that was above them. Femka couldn't keep her curiosity from forcing her to look out the window at the city below her that was getting smaller and smaller by the moment. She was glued to the glass now. She could see everything below her. Within seconds the planet was below them. The atmosphere was pierced through by Ratchet's ship and the woman still kept her eyes on it all. It didn't even feel like they were flying. She worked up her nerves for nothing and personally she was glad for that.

"_He said in sixteen hours we'd be there,"_ Femka thought. _"I guess until then I can work on my grammar and vocabulary and…"_ The woman stopped pondering and just gazed mesmerized at the scenery around her. _"Are those other planets? And that must be Igliak, then."_ She had a small smile of sheer amazement as her face never left the window.

It would be stuck like that for quite some time. Her face left its temporary position after about two hours of their journey. Her neck was starting to hurt and they still had fourteen hours left to go. She knew she wouldn't be able to take a nap sitting up—it was nearly impossible. So, she just closed her eyes instead and started to think about stuff. What kind of stuff? Just anything, really. Once again the dream from a few nights ago snuck into her thoughts. This is what happens when she's left to her own devices. Her face started to turn unpleasant and she opened her eyes to look in front of her. She was able to see what Clank was up to by lifting her body up with her neck stretched, since he sat sort of in front of her. The little robot was reading his book again. Femka wondered what it was about. If she could read it, it wouldn't matter, because her eyes were so bad. Glasses didn't make much of a difference. She relaxed in her seat and glanced over at the Lombax pilot. Obviously he had his eyes set on the vast plane of space in front of him. Her eyes preoccupied themselves for several minutes just staring at him until she realized what she was doing. Her head turned away quickly and she looked back out the window.

"_How can one dream be so troublesome? I mean, really?"_ she sighed lightly through her nostrils, her chest rose and fell. _"Maybe it's just a phase. I'll get over it."_

Their trip was almost coming to a close. Clank let Femka know that they were approaching the Solana galaxy. She perked up in her seat to look out the window. She could see the spiral formation of stars coming closer in view. The colors were astonishing, beyond stunning. He said it would only be a matter of minutes now until they reached their destination—forty-five minutes, an hour tops. Her happiness was accompanied by a yawn. They were up early in the day, so she had been awake this whole time. Back on Igliak it was already time for her to go to bed. But for Jowai, the resort they would be staying at, it was almost noon. Femka could see other ships that would fly by quick. Some she didn't even see given the speed they were going at. However, there was a ship closing in on them. Directly from behind, it was a much bigger ship and it was tailing them fast.

"Ratchet, I think that ship is trying to hail us," Clank said flipping a switch.

The Lombax looked down at the computer screen as the vessel was practically overhead.

"Open up a channel."

"Affirmative."

Femka looked over confused wondering what was going on exactly as Clank opened a communication link between their ship and the one above them. A voice spoke over the system. It seemed distorted.

"Halt your ship, Lombax. You have something that we need."

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?"

"Don't make me ask again," the voice threatened.

"Looks like you just might have to," Ratchet said furtively gripping the controls of his ship looking back to Femka. "Hang on."

Clank closed the link between the two ships as Ratchet engaged the back thrusters sending them forward away from the vessel above them. He planned to out fly the thing. He had no idea what they wanted. Last time he checked nothing was in his possession that was valuable to some stranger with an ominous voice. Ratchet's small ship continued to pick up speed as their pursuer followed steadily behind them. Clank's eyes followed the radar closely.

"We are being targeted."

Just as Clank finished his sentence the small ship felt like it hit turbulence as it shook momentarily. Femka clung to her seat and closed her eyes tight at the feel of impact.

"Are they shooting at us?" her voice trembled.

"No, that wasn't a missile or shot of weaponry. I think they tethered us."

Ratchet turned on the display to the back of the ship as the image came onto the screen up front. He was right. There was a long metal chord hooked onto the back of the vessel attaching it to the large ship behind them.

"That's a cheap shot," Ratchet snapped under his breath.

He tried to engage the ship to full power but the tether began pulling them inward toward the massive flying object.

"Clank, see if you can operate the mini-turret and blast off that tether!"

"Right!"

The tiny robot ran to the back of the ship and stepped into a small chamber that let him lift up to a little glass dome that harbored the small guns. He grabbed the controls and began opening fire on the cord that continued to pull them closer and closer. The blasts from the small guns were weakening the metal on the cable and it snapped unraveling and revealing its wires. The sudden detachment thrust Ratchet's ship frontward causing Femka to jerk forward in her seat. Clank continued to unleash his firearms on the ship. It backed down flying off to the side and below them out of Clank's range.

"Ratchet, the ship has retreated."

The mechanic kept his speed steady and Clank watched the ship leave from view. Pokitaru was in sight already. They made it faster than anticipated thanks to their sudden encounter. Femka looked over to Ratchet questioning just what happened. Her heart was racing and gradually returning to normal after seeing Clank return casually from his position.

"That was strange. I wonder why they were attacking us," Clank pondered puzzled.

"Yeah, so do I. Let's just hope they decide to back off for awhile." The Lombax shook his head pressing another sequence of buttons on the dash in front of him. "We're ready to descend now."

Femka was too worked up to notice the shimmering planet below them at first but when they broke through several levels of clouds she bothered to stare out the window and take in the view. She could see vast amounts of water as they neared a set of islands. It all looked just as technical and futuristic like Meridian did. There were plenty of other ships flying about but not as many as there were in the city. This was supposed to be a place for rest and relaxation. Who wants to fly when they could be lounging on the beach anyway? The ship landed on a docking pad on one of the smaller islands about the archipelago. Femka unlatched her seatbelt when it was safe to move about the cabin. She stood with her body and face practically pressed against the window looking at all the scenery like a little kid in a candy shop. Everything outside looked so striking and lush. The islands were covered in beautiful green foliage and the water was as pretty as her oceans back on Earth. They sparkled brilliantly when the sun's rays hit upon them. The woman was so excited she could barely contain herself. Ratchet unbuckled himself and stretched his arms up with a yawn. Sitting in that seat for about sixteen hours would make anyone cramped, no matter how comfortable it was.

"I'm gonna go take a look at the back of the ship. I'd like to see how much damage that tether's latch did to it." There was the faintest sound of annoyance in his voice.

The short, yellow-furred mechanic hopped out of the ship and examined the back end while to others got their things ready. Femka brought her backpack and another bag to carry some more things with her. She threw them around her back and exited the vessel with another yawn. Clank flew down from the ship by means of a small helicopter propeller on his head that helped him glide safely to the ground. He was carrying a pack on his back that looked at least three times his size. Ratchet exhaled at the hole that was created in the back of the ship but shrugged with a shake of his head and mumbled at the inconvenience.

"If I ever see that ship again I'm unleashing galactic hell. I just got this thing tuned-up. Sheesh." His eyes rolled. "Alright, let's find a place to crash," he said noting that Femka looked like she was about to fall asleep while standing.

The trio walked with their things to a tram that would lead them across one island to the next. The local inhabitants greeted them when they entered the skyline and proceeded to grace their presence with flowers on their heads. Femka laughed tiredly at the bouquet on top of Ratchet's head to which he just sighed through his nose and stared rather dryly at the girl.

They ran into a small problem when they arrived at their hotel, however. It was a busy time of season for tourists and most of the rooms there were full or reserved. They did have a room available for the three, naturally, but there was only one bed. Femka was too tired to care and Clank didn't mind where he slept as long as it wasn't in the bathroom or the fridge. When they made it to the eighteenth floor the sleepy translator just flopped onto the bed letting her things fall on the ground at the bed's side. Ratchet had set his things down and investigated the room that they were given and peered out the window at the nice view they had of the resort.

"I don't know about you two but I don't wanna stay here all day," Ratchet said moving away from the window. "I think I'm gonna go take a walk around."

"I will join you." Clank set his things down with a thud.

"I'm gonna take a nap." Femka yawned still lying on the bed. "Could you come back and get me in a couple of hours? I don't want to sleep the whole day and mess up my schedule."

"We will return half past seventeen hundred hours," Clank stated as two headed out the door.

Femka said goodbye in her tired voice and before long she was out and sleeping. The windows were open in the room letting a nice breeze through. The smell of the ocean wafted about the bright room and seagulls were calling to one another nearby. The sounds were so relaxing.

Half past seventeen hours later Femka was already awake and getting changed. She still felt tired but she couldn't let herself sleep any longer, otherwise she'd be awake during the nights and asleep through the days of their vacation. It would be a waste of a good time. She was in the bathroom changing into her swimsuit when she heard the door open to the main part of their hotel room. It was only Ratchet returning to wake her up.

"I'm in here," she said from inside the bathroom.

"And I'll be waiting," he replied.

After a few more minutes she emerged from the room in her attire. It fit her body well. Femka looked pretty good in a bathing suit. The Lombax's eyes followed and inspected her body discreetly when she stepped out into the room. She was attractive.

"So, I take it swimming's the first thing you want to do?" he asked breaking his eyes from her body and staring at her face directly instead.

"Well," she began, putting on a flowing sundress she laid out on the bed earlier, "first I'd like to eat something, and then I want to swim." Her feet stepped into a pair of sandals. "Where's Clank?"

Ratchet chuckled looking at the floor and then back to Femka.

"He found a robot spa and insisted upon staying there for a little while."

"Sounds refreshing," she said unsure. "Alright, let's go already. I'm starving." Femka hurried toward the door.

Ratchet followed her out of the room with his tail swaying behind him. There were tons of places to choose from when it came to food. The only downside was that it was a bit on the expensive side. Other than that, it was pretty delicious. It gave the foreigner a change to try out some more alien food. Sure she encountered things she didn't like (or couldn't figure out _if_ she liked it or not) but most of the time she was content with it. When she finished eating she was ready to swim. That was another thing she loved to do. Back home she would always swim. It was in her astrological make up to want to swim so much. She was a Pisces after all. When they arrived to a beach she was hesitant to go in the water. It looked just like the oceans back on Earth but god only knows what was swimming in them besides other alien tourists. Femka handed Ratchet her glasses and necklace and took off her shoes and dress setting them at the spot they picked and she ran to the water boldly taking a dive. To her surprise the water was rather warm. She surfaced tasting the salt on her lips and looked back at her friend to see if he was going to join her. It was hard for her to see much with her bad eyes but she could tell he was coming to the water. The mechanic took off the brown aviator hat he always wore and stripped down to the clothes he chose to wear for the water. He took a different route to go into the water, finding a small ledge on a pile of rocks and performed a cannonball by Femka. His fur and density made him less hydrodynamic than her, so as he swam he took his time to get to her. They spent a few hours playing around in the water and exploring the coast until it was almost evening.

They met up with Clank later and all headed back to the hotel room seemingly exhausted but satisfied with the turnout of the day. Femka took a shower when they got back to wash off the salt on her skin and hair. The Lombax would've done the same but he was already dry and without doubt they would probably swim again tomorrow, so there was no point. When the woman came out of the bathroom in her pajamas she saw Clank making preparations for his slumber and Ratchet on the bed playing some handheld video game. The little robot was sitting on the couch with a nice cluster of pillows and a blanket at his side. He even wore a small nightcap on his head that covered his antenna. Kind of comical that a machine lived just like an organic life form. Femka crawled onto the bed and rested her head on the pillow putting her body comfortably underneath the blanket. She was watching whatever Ratchet was playing until he shut it off and placed on a table near the bed. His ears motioned upward when he lain down noticing that Femka was looking at him. A small smile was on his face as his brows arched.

"Are you dreaming about me?" he teased.

"_No_," she exclaimed.

Femka's face was red and she pushed her hand on his face turning her body around the other way in embarrassment. Had he noticed all those other times she would just stare at him and daydream? Oh, god. She obviously was thinking about him—she didn't realize that she was staring like that, though. Femka only hoped that he was being a tease like he sometimes would be. She closed her eyes when the lights went out and lost herself in her thoughts. She let the butterflies in her stomach flutter about as she contemplated her emotions for the man next to her. Maybe she couldn't fathom liking someone so much—she never really had a crush before, but this was definitely a crush.

"_I wonder if I should tell him about my dream?"_ her cheeks blushed. _"It might make me feel better. I doubt he likes me like that anyway. I've only known him for barely a month. But I really think I like him…"_ Her eyes shut tighter. _"If I tell him, I bet it'll make it easier for me to talk to him. He must think something's wrong with me, because I keep staring at him and hiding when he looks. Ugh. No! Wait."_ Her eyes opened. _"I can't tell him. He'll get all smug about what I said a few weeks ago. I told him I didn't date or seek relationships like that. Why did I have to make this so difficult for myself?"_

Femka's thoughts continued on the subject of awkward romance. Her mental conflict kept her up for awhile. Sometime during the night, though, she gave in to her feelings after she had a fantasy that slipped her defenses. It wasn't anything extraordinary, it was simple. She thought of how nice it was to be in his arms and how safe she felt when he held her. Femka made a resolution before falling asleep that at some point during their trip she would tell him everything on her mind, the consequences notwithstanding. She needed to get this off of her chest.

The next day wasn't a success for her when she tried. Whenever they were out Femka would manage to get him alone somewhere for a moment but could never gather the courage to talk to him about it and then it was too late. The girl wanted to tear her hair out every time she messed up her chance. Ratchet didn't notice the agony she was mentally afflicting herself with, because she didn't want him to see it. Try after try she would take a deep breath telling herself, _"I'll tell him next time."_ But again the next time she tried she couldn't muster up the strength. Their vacation was coming to a close, too. They intended to stay at the Jowai resort for about a week but Ratchet also promised her they would see Veldin. Finally, on the last day of their vacation Femka was at the brink of going nuts from her bottled emotions.

"I'm going to tell him today. _Today!_" she said to herself in front of the mirror in the bathroom. She calmed down before speaking aloud again. "But it's not like I have a deadline—No!" her head shook. "The sooner you tell him, the better you'll feel."

Femka left the bathroom with a heavy sigh escaping her opened mouth. She knew Ratchet and Clank were out of the hotel a little while ago; they said they'd return momentarily. Femka left the room and decided to wait for them outside the back of the hotel building. She watched the people walk by and occasionally would remember the name of their species. This galaxy harbored different life forms that many of which she still didn't know. She was left to ponder what they were as she waited outside. The crowd of tourists dissipated and Femka could see a clearer view of the ocean in front of her. It was so relaxing she leaned against a tree just to watch it and close her eyes loosely.

"Pardon," a voice called to Femka. "Miss?"

The woman was almost startled having been broken from her meditation. She looked over at a gentleman standing by her, a species she wasn't familiar with.

"Yes?"

"I think you should come with me," he said.

"Excuse me?" her brows tensed.

She saw him take a gun out from a holster around his belt and point it unobtrusively at her lower stomach. She let out gasp looking down at the gun on her middle body and then back at the man. His eyes were yellow and his skin was a dark green. He had three fingers, thumb included, on each hand.

"Let's go quietly. We don't want to attract any attention."

He pointed in the direction that he wanted to woman to go toward and she reluctantly stepped forward. He held the gun close to her back, not letting passersby see the concealed weapon.

"_What the hell is going on here?" _Femka shouted in her mind. _"First I almost get mugged by some guys, and then we randomly get attacked in space, and now this guy? What's wrong with this universe? What do these people want?"_

As Femka walked she remembered something important she forgot to tell Ratchet. It was about the incident with Ipsin. She meant to tell Ratchet that she was certain those men knew what her necklace did. Now she was theorizing another speculation. Femka had a feeling this man knew something about her as well.

"_I bet anything he's with that ship that attacked us,"_ she surmised. _"Maybe they're all in it together. Those two bandits, that ship and this guy."_

She continued to think as she was directed quickly through town and then through a small area of foliage to a ship that was waiting for them. There it was. She recognized it. That was the ship that assaulted them before they came to the planet.

"What do you want with me?" she demanded as the stranger pointed his gun at her back to make her move forward.

"We'll explain it later. Get on the ship."

• • •

"We're back!" Ratchet announced opening the door to their room. There wasn't an answer, however. "Femka?" The Lombax peeked around the room. "Fem?" he said with his ears flicking up and down as he glanced in the bathroom. "Huh."

"Perhaps she is waiting outside for us?" Clank suggested.

Ratchet shrugged following his friend outside but to their consternation Femka wasn't around the outside of the hotel either. The mechanic reached for his communicator and decided to give her a call. A confused expression gathered around his face when a message came up on his comm-link.

"It says her number's been disabled."

"How odd." Clank tapped a finger on the metal exterior of his face. "Why would it be disabled?"

"I don't know but it worries me."

The mechanic pressed another button on his comm-link and proceeded to try and synchronize their navigation units together to track her location.

"Have you traced her whereabouts?"

"Yeah, but," Ratchet paused baffled and staring at his device, "it says she's leaving the planet."

"This cannot be good." Clank stared up at his friend concerned.

"Either my comm-link is broken or something is wrong here. We need find her."

Without a second pause the two ran to where they left the ship the previous days ago. Ratchet and his companion climbed aboard and prepared for lift off. They were in the air in seconds tracking down Femka's location. By now she was off the planet and leaving the galaxy according to Ratchet's nav-unit. As they advanced on her location, his scientific compass produced a message stating '_Target Lost'._

"What? Recalibrate!"

The Lombax fiddled with the machine but nothing happened. Her signal was gone.

"The ship's computer cannot locate Miss Femka's navigation unit either. It would appear that wherever she may be is likely to have a communication jammer in close proximity."

"Great…"

The duo let the ship travel deeper into space in the direction they thought Femka was heading.

"If only we knew what vessel she was aboard," Clank said solemnly.

"The computer didn't catch the serial number, did it?"

"I am re-checking the database to determine if there was a scan of the transport." Clank pressed at the buttons on the holographic computer display. "Aha. Femka's comm-link was able to acquire a connection with her vessel's computer. Importing data. The serial number is: 2700-92335-29ND."

"And ND ship?" Ratchet repeated quietly. "Those are cargo ships."

"If I may suggest."

"Shoot."

"The ship that attacked us a week ago was also an ND model ship."

"What, are you saying she's on the same ship?"

"It is possible. That ship was obviously looking for something, as they mentioned. Nothing is absolute, but I have a feeling that cargo ship wanted Miss Femka and hence they returned to get her from Jowai."

"You know, it's kind of strange. I bet they're after her necklace. But it bothers me. How did they know about it?"

"We may never be certain as to how word traveled but I believe it is imperative we locate that ship."

"Already on it," Ratchet said with his determined spirit as he pressed a button on the computer screen. "Computer, locate serial number 2700-92335-29ND."

'_Ship located; downloading coordinates.'_

The ship displayed the destination of the ship's journey. Clank looked at the information on the screen and hummed a small voice of inquisitiveness.

"I am not familiar with this location."

"It looks like it's heading to another galaxy pretty far from here. We'll have to hurry."

The ship increased its speed and in was off to track down the mysterious cargo ship. Hopefully, their assumptions were correct and Femka would be on that ship.

• • •

Meanwhile on the vessel Femka was taken to, her captor led her to a containment cell where she was forced to stay for the remainder of the ride. She was scared after being held hostage at gunpoint—again—and she sat in her cell on the floor with her legs folded against her chest.

"Why did I have to go outside? Why did I have to leave?" she cursed under her breath. "They took my comm-link… I'll never be found." Her head hid between her legs. Her arms and legs were cold. She was dressed for summer, not for outer space.

There were long quiet pauses on the ship. She was the only one in that chamber but she could hear other activities around her. Femka could hear footsteps approaching her chamber. She didn't bother to look out of her cell. She placed herself in the back by a corner. The footsteps stopped in front of her cell. The woman could feel a pair of eyes staring at her.

"Leave me alone," she said muffled in her skin.

"I thought you'd be happy to see me," the voice spoke.

Femka's head lifted immediately. She recognized that voice. It was Ipsin. He was standing right outside her magnetically guarded prison. Her eyes were wide and unyielding.

"Ipsin…?" The word fell off her lips quietly.

"Yes. It's me."

"How…?" Femka couldn't speak. A million thoughts were rushing through her mind. "You brought me here?"

"I did," he said calmly.

"What do you think you're doing?" The woman stood up. "Why did you bring me here?"

"For you."

"What?" her voice snapped as her eyes strained to see him.

The red alien paused. His white hair fell in front of his eyes as he stared at the floor looking back at the angry human being before him.

"At first, I was interested in your necklace. I wanted to know if it really was what I thought it was. There was no mistaking it after I saw it again. It's the Neroltrium stone. That what you're wearing around your neck is the same material I've been researching for years and years. But there's clearly more to the story."

"Yes, please enlighten me," she snapped again.

"Originally, I just wanted your necklace. I needed to have that stone in my possession. That night we went walking, I set up the whole thing. I asked some friends of mine to stage a mugging in hopes that they would scare you into giving them the necklace. But I hadn't anticipated your display of defense." He looked at her with his black eyes. "I know everything about Neroltrium. And it's not just because I've been researching it. That material comes from my galaxy. I know exactly how it got to Polaris and wherever else it landed. I know for a fact that Neroltrium has amazing powers but what I don't know is how you control it like that."

Femka only glared at him as he spoke. She didn't understand it either, but it proved everything about her suspicions earlier on.

"Thousands of years ago, my solar system was under siege by a horrid tyrant who called himself Sergua. He knew about Nerotrium's attributes and found a planet to mine its contents dry. His intentions were to build a machine, a weapon of mass destruction, and use it to make our solar system submit to him. He was able to force many people into capitulation by taming this mysterious material. Unfortunately for him, some rebels over threw him and destroyed his weapon. After that, whatever remnants of the Neroltrium was left, were scattered throughout the voids of space. It appeared that after a great time pieces ended up on Igliak—and it would seem your planet as well."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" her glare deepened as her arms raised in confusion.

"Because I want you to understand my plans for you."

"What plans?"

"I don't want to give it all away but I was inspired by your gift. I have no idea how it could've happened but it gave me such an idea." His eyes were wide with excitement.

"I'm so glad for you."

"Please, don't be upset with me so much, Femka. I—"

"—Upset?" She broke off his words. "You befriended me, allowed me to trust you even the smallest bit, staged an assault, and kidnapped me just so you could have some stupid piece of rock? I think upset is an audacious underestimation! What do you even need me for? Just take the stupid thing and let me go!"

"I can't. Haven't you been paying attention? You're the one that I need."

"For what already?"

Ipsin sighed out his mouth before he spoke once more.

"I want to resume what Sergua was trying to accomplish."

"You're totally mad. What's the point? What's the drive? You're just one guy and you want to rule a solar system for no reason?"

"There is a reason. I am a descendent of Sergua and I want to fulfill his vision."

Femka could see the look in his eyes changing from calm to psychotic the more he spoke. He was aware of the affects of Neroltrium. It was just like what happened to Sergua. His time around the element made him more mad. Femka couldn't understand it, though. She saw no means of motivation for his dream. She easily figured he was just born demented.

"I've spent years in Polaris just waiting for the moment that I could run off with the Neroltrium sample they had in the museum. The pirates who stole it a month ago weren't in my scheme, though. And when I heard that Ratchet was after it to bring it back, I had high hopes of its return. But then that brainless thing failed to return it to the museum. I thought it was finished until you came along. So, I will tell you the rest of my plans. I want to harvest the energy that you have and use it to power a very special device I've been secretly designing. And when I figure out how to link you to the machine, I'm going to eradicate a specific planet in my solar system and finish what my ancestor started. I may be one person but that doesn't matter when I've got the right tools to help me."

His long tail swung slowly behind him like a pendulum. Femka was furious. She was being considered an instrument instead of a living being. She would strangle him if her arms could make it through the magnetic grid that kept her inside. The feeling of fear and helplessness consumed her all at once with her deep revulsion for this man. She hated the look of his face. The soft smile he wore was fake and twisted. Her hands balled into fists; she could feel them getting hot as she squeezed them tight.

"I'm not gonna be used like that," she said with her voice small and shaken.

The researcher stared at her, still such a smile on his face, but his eyes focused on the necklace she wore as it began glowing—just like last time he witnessed. His face grew more serious when he noticed the sparks spouting from her hands. His footsteps moved away from the cell as he pressed a button on the wall that trigged an alarm. Femka ignored his action and pushed her palms onto a computer board on the wall causing it to short circuit. She had no idea which thing did what in that room but one of those gadgets would open the door eventually—or so she assumed. Her hands touched everything in the cell, destroying it and causing it to blow a fuse. The grid was disabled and the lights above her flickered and shutdown. Femka stepped out of her cell and walked to Ipsin. She wasn't afraid of her power anymore.

"Let me off this ship," she annunciated each word callously.

Ipsin continued to take several steps backward.

"And then what? Desert you on a planet? I could do that for you. I could just eject you into space and trace your coordinates and come get you later. I'm sure I could think of something to counteract your little electric-ability," he said.

"I know Ratchet and Clank will find me and I'll tell them all about your half-baked proposal of domination."

Femka turned around suddenly having heard more footsteps running into the containment room. Some aliens like the one who held her at gunpoint earlier were standing in the doorway armed with some weapons. Ipsin meanwhile brought out a gun and pointed it in her direction. She was trapped. Her head turned to the crazed loon behind her and then back to the blockade at the entrance.

"Clam yourself and we'll figure out an agreement together. We're adults. We can negotiate."

"I'm not negotiating anything with you."

"Don't make me shoot you."

"Go ahead! Do it!"

Femka yelled in her mind, _"What am I saying? I'm gonna die if I don't do something quick!"_ But her face only showed her anger. It was now or never. The woman ran and lunged at one of the men in the doorway grabbing at his feet and causing him to fall with a bellow from the pain inflicted on him from Femka's electric hands. She stood up and ran out of the room as they opened fire on her down the hall.

"Don't kill her! Just stun her, you morons!" Ipsin shouted.

The ignorant girl had no idea where she was going on this ship but as she ran she would touch the walls and let her power consume the circuitry. It would overload sending sparks all over the area as lights would flicker and certain operations became unresponsive to the computer. She was trying to locate an escape pod but was unsuccessful so far. There were other men up ahead of her and she quickly turned down another hallway to avoid them. There was a door at the end and her legs took her there as fast as they would allow it.

"Please let there be an escape pod, please, please, please…," she muttered under her panting breath.

No escape pods were on the other side of that door. It was a lift to the next floor instead. She hurried inside and apprehensively pressed a button that she hoped would take her up. Her power didn't interfere with the device to her bewilderment. She looked at her hands in confusion wondering what she did to change the effect.

"I… I think I can finally control this," she huffed with a smile cracking around one corner of her mouth.

When the lift reached the next floor, Femka took her hands and disabled the system on the wall for it and continued to search for a way off of the vessel. When she used her power it was like a mental push on an object. She figured it out slowly but surely. What she wanted to break, all she needed to do was feel it psychologically and the surge rushed out of her body by her command. The inside of the ship was taking quite a lot of technical damage. The woman managed to sabotage some important circuitry along the way.

"There she is!" a voice yelled and opened fire.

Femka ran but her lungs were burning. She couldn't keep this up any longer. She needed to do something quick before they apprehended her. She took every twist and turn she could trying not to wind up at a dead end. There it was, in front of her, the control room. She could see the windows to the universe outside. There were two men in the room piloting the cargo ship and managing the system errors that continued popping up. Femka barged into the room still touching everything in sight. The two pilots looked over in shock as blue and purple electricity flew all over the room. Her body looked like it was supercharged as the streams of current covered her rising up akin to a Tesla coil. The two men got up from their seats and stepped away from her when she walked near. Femka placed her hands on the main controls frying the ship's computer. There was no telling what would happen next. It was out of control now and approaching a nearby planet. Femka hoped her irrational decision wouldn't kill her but what else was there? She breathed heavily holding her chest as the planet grew larger and larger. Her breath was cut short and she fell onto the floor as the pilots ran out of the room ready to abandon ship. Her eyes shut and tensed as the ship started to fall nose first through the planet's atmosphere. The gravity of the sphere had pulled them in and the turbulence continued to intensify. Ipsin had managed to make it to the second floor but struggled to keep his feet steady as the ship bounced and shook. He ran to one of his escape pods fearing his death and parted ways with his ship. He would watch it fall from his location above. If the ship didn't blow up completely he would return to it and salvage the remains. But he had little hope of Femka surviving the crash.

Femka pulled herself onto one of the chairs where the pilot sat and buckled in struggling to breathe right. Her asthma was making it difficult to catch a proper lungful of air. She watched as the ground was coming closer. Her eyes shut tightly and then…


	10. One Man and His Convoluted Plan

**Chapter Nine**

"The signal is gone, Ratchet," Clank said from aboard the duo's small vessel. "The computer can no longer trace the ND cargo ship. However, we still have the coordinates for its destination."

The Lombax sighed deeply; his focus remained on the space in front of them. He pondered what could've happened to it.

"_Something serious must be going on. But what?"_ he contemplated.

His hand reached to his nav-unit noticing the synchronization he began earlier was activated and linked with Femka's communicator finally. His head looked back at the view before him and then jumped to the device with stupefaction.

"Clank, I think her comm-link is working. I think I have her location. Upload it to the computer for me."

"Affirmative. Uploading information." Clank leaned in to the computer to examine the data displayed. "We are close. She is in the Bogon galaxy in sector seven on planet Aranos."

"In that case we'd better step on it." The mechanic adjusted the controls to the ship.

"Indeed. Miss Femka was certainly not dressed for Aranos's cold temperatures," the little robot added.

Their ship was in a neighboring galaxy near Bogon; and with Femka's comm-link operating it made it easier for them to pinpoint where on Aranos her exact locality was. They would make it there within hours and hopefully it wouldn't be any longer.

• • •

Femka's eyes slowly opened. The smell of smoke and fumes drifted aboard the ship. Her body was still strapped into the seat. The ship survived and so did she. Her breath was still short and the room felt titled. The cargo ship crashed head on into the ground. The front end was smashed inward as the rest of the ship stuck out of the snow covered surface diagonally. Luckily for Femka, the cockpit was higher than the tip of the ship itself. She woke up forcibly fiddling with the seatbelt lock to free herself. She tumbled limp out of the chair and rolled onto the ground coughing at the inhale of smoke. She needed to get out of there. The first thing that was on her mind besides air was Ipsin. She hoped he died in the crash or evacuated. Right now her mind wasn't straight—she had no energy to run away from him. Her thin arms pushed her up and she stood on her two feet adjusting her body weight to the forward tilt of the vessel. Through the smoke she could see the outside. Snow was everywhere. They crash landed on a mountain. Femka didn't know it but Aranos was practically all mountains. She pushed her body onward to search for an exit. The door to the hallway was broken open and the lights all around were shattered or barely functioning. Femka found an exit near the pilot control room from where she came. It was a door with a wheel on it but it was already partially opened. The crash must have done that job. She pushed on it with whatever strength she could muster and the heavy metal door opened with a loud creak. The frigid wind blew through the opening and Femka covered with a shiver her exposed arms. Goosebumps immediately traveled up her legs and over her skin. She climbed down a ladder on the side until she had to let go and drop a foot to the ground. Her legs stung from the sudden impact and she fell when her ankles gave out. The ground was freezing. Her lips quivered. But she tried to stand up again. She walked forward wanting to get away from the ship. She had no idea where she was going or what was around her. All she could see from the place where she walked were mountains and some trees. If she could find someone or maybe make her way to the base of the mountain she would okay. But Femka didn't know anything. She didn't even have her communicator anymore; her legs would just keep moving on until she couldn't push her body any more.

She heard a ship flying near her. The woman's head lifted up to watch it. It must have noticed the cargo ship and went to investigate. Someone may be able to help her. Her voice quivered as she tried to run back to the wreckage. She was only walking for ten minutes. The ship from the sky landed near the wreck and someone stepped out. Femka could hardly see who it was. But she noticed now that it wasn't a ship at all, it was a pod. Her feet stopped moving and she just watched. Her eyes tried to focus on the person exiting the small craft. Four other pods landed as well and she moved closer to see who it was.

"Oh, no," her voice whispered as her eyes went wide. "It's him. He's alive. He escaped the ship… He's gonna look for me."

Femka took small steps backward until she turned around and began to run. It was Ipsin who did exit the first pod. Just like he wished, if the ship survived he would investigate it to see whether or not Femka was still alive. She was. But she was running away now, slowly, but surely. The men from the escape shuttles hadn't noticed her and neither did Ipsin. He was busy entering the ship and gathering information. He was determined to find her. He asked the remainder of his crew to locate her. They spent hours just searching the ship but there was no trace of her. A man outside noticed something, though. Foot prints on the snow. The sky was clear at the moment but they were fresh. They were headed down the mountain. Ipsin took a look for himself.

"She's alive," he said with a pleased expression.

"Do you want us to send out a search party or somethin'?" one of the crew members asked.

"Yes. Make sure you track her down as fast as possible. She'll be dead soon if you don't."

"Yes sir."

"When you find her, inform me and bring her to me. I'm going back to Igliak to retrieve the mother ship in the mean time. I've got plans that need to be set in motion."

"Whatever you say sir."

Ipsin left the remaining crew and entered back into his small pod. It blasted off back into the sky and left the planet within moments. The crew requested back up to initiate a search and find. The aliens that were in the operation were only doing it for money. There was always some kind of service like them in a universe so diverse. They didn't take sides. If you had the bolts then they had the time, something like the _'Thugs 4 Less'_ association, more or less. More of them arrived—some already had been stationed on this planet to begin with.

"Y'know, I expected more money for this," a brute said rubbing his hands together to keep them warm.

"It comes in installments," the other replied as they guarded the ship. "But it is kind of pointless to watch over this piece of junk."

"I know what'cha sayin'. Huntin' is where it's at."

"Yeah, exactly, but it's not the same when you can't kill 'em, you know what I'm sayin'?"

"I know what'cha sayin'."

Four heavy bodyguards stayed behind at the ship, while four others went out to search for Femka on foot. Several air-born thugs went looking as well. As for Femka's whereabouts, she was miles from the ship already but she was wearing down fast. Her limbs were frozen, her toes where white and her lips were turning the same color as her hair. She couldn't walk anymore. It was hurting so much. But she couldn't stop, she had to move. She just had to. Oh, but the burning feeling inside her lungs and the stinging feeling of the cold air biting at her skin, it was telling her to submit. Her next step sent her tumbling ineptly down a small hill as her ankle gave out again. The tired girl rolled until she hit something unpredictably soft. Her glasses had fallen off of her face as the thing she bumped into turned around and stared down at her adjusting a pair of glasses of his own. His details were blurred but he was a big, blue fellow with a black beard who wore suspenders that compensated for his "wide" build. Femka grunted trying to stay awake; the stranger easily helped prop her up. What was anyone doing out here anyway? Was he fixing a pipe in the middle of nowhere? She couldn't stay awake any longer, her eyes shut and she was limp against the stranger.

Ratchet and Clank, however, were approaching the planet. The ship flew through the snow filled clouds following Femka's comm-link. The shipwreck could be seen from their view in the sky.

"Ratchet, the ND ship is below us. Femka may still be inside." The small robot's expression was filled with worry.

"Let's hope she's alright." Ratchet steered the ship to descend noting the few people around it. "I wonder what they're up to."

The guards at the base of the ship noticed Ratchet's vessel coming in for a landing several miles away. Two were signaled to stay behind while the other two would go on ahead and see what the ship was about that landed.

The duo hopped out of the ship and into the snow. Clank was secured on Ratchet's back as they headed out on the mountain toward the crash site. The walk wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes or so but as they trucked through the barren, snow-covered, rocky wasteland (also known as Aranos), they were soon to be greeted by the two brutes that went to investigate. The two aliens were watching from afar as they could see the Lombax marching onward.

"What's he doin' here?" one said taking cover from behind a tree.

"I don't have a clue. Maybe he's with that girl we're lookin' for."

"Should we tell Ro?"

"What? He's by himself. He doesn't even look armed. We can take 'em out easy," the tough alien said taking out a rather large gun and aiming it at the unsuspecting Lombax. His eye squinted as he looked through the scope to lock on. "Easy…"

Just as the brute fired his shot, Ratchet slipped on a patch of ice tripping and landing face forward hearing the sound of a gun fire over his head. Clank saw the laser that went by in the air being on Ratchet's back. The Lombax's eyes went wide and he sat up looking around with his ears back.

"Did someone just shoot at me?" his tail fluffed.

"It came from over there," Clank pointed to a group of trees as the mechanic stood up.

Ratchet turned his head to peer at the foliage seeing the two thugs ready to shoot again. Without another pause their weapons fired and the Lomax rushed to take cover.

"What gives?" he yelled diving behind a tree.

"Perhaps they are protecting the cargo ship?"

"So, then she must be alive."

"Indeed. Or whatever is on that ship is rather valuable to them. Or perhaps they just do not like you."

"You think?" he said moving his head away from view as another beam of light spit past his face. "Well," Ratchet glanced at his communicator, "guess I'll just have to take them out."

"With what? You have brought nothing to fight with other than your wrench."

"Is that doubt I'm hearing? Or are you chicken?"

"I am no chicken. I am only the voice of ignored reason."

"Ah, don't be such a buzz kill. Ready?"

"I do not have much choice," Clank sighed.

"Alright! Three, two, one…!"

Devoid of any plan, Ratchet ran from his cover and toward the two thugs that were declaring open season for the last Lombax. He evaded every shot to his best and dashed at one of the men jumping on him and swinging around him holding onto his neck.

"Hey!" he yelled trying to reach the nuisance behind him. His arms couldn't reach. "Get 'im off me!"

"Uh, right!"

His partner held up his gun ready to shoot but the frustrated alien was wobbling around too much trying to get Ratchet off his back.

"I can't shoot if you keep moving around like that."

"Just do it! Just shoot him!"

The other alien shook his head and opened fire nearly shooting his comrade in the process. Ratchet hung on for dear life grateful to the alien being a terrible shot. He pulled out his wrench hanging on with one hand and hit it against the thug's head with all his strength. He stopped moving around and eventually fell forward dropping his weapon. Ratchet stood up with a smug smile on his face and looked to the remaining brute smacking his wrench against his palm.

"I ain't afraid you, little kitten." His gun pointed at the Lombax.

"No?" His ears went down suddenly. "Are you afraid of the elusive yet very dangerous Aranosian Guhltawk by any chance?" Ratchet took a step backward.

"Why would I be afraid of one of those?"

The man slowly put his gun down from his face hearing a heavy breathing sound behind him. His head lifted up and turned it very carefully to see what was back there. Ah. An Aranosian Guhltawk, breathing down his back, no less. They were very big carnivorous, mammalian creatures that lived on the planet's mountain tops. This one looked particularly hungry, showing its big set of teeth to the both of them. It growled deeply unleashing a low roar. Ratchet's ears folded out to the sides and he was off in a dash.

"Run!" he yelled letting his legs carry him.

The thug behind him panicked with a small yell holding up his gun to the growling creature and opening fire. The Guhltawk bellowed snapping at the man taking his gun as he still held onto it, throwing him and his weapon in the air.

"Keep running, Ratchet, it is chasing us now."

The Lombax turned his head to see the monster catching up fast.

"Oh, c'mon! You didn't even eat the other guy, did you?"

The creature just roared gaining speed on the mechanic and his friend. Ratchet hurried as fast as he could—it was a good thing this was all downhill. Unfortunately, like before, the mechanic slipped on ice with a yelp sending him forward and he began to tumble down the mountain side. The hungry carnivore still followed with heavy leaps and cries. Ratchet's body flipped in the air and he landed on his chest with a groan from the pain.

"You must get up, Ratchet. That beast is coming," Clank urged.

"Just… just a second… I hurt a lot right now…"

Ratchet pushed his body up with his arms and feet turning around to see the Guhltawk advancing with a giant leap. The Lombax screamed scrambling to his feet and darted down the rest of the mountain. It was getting a little steeper. The mechanic was finding it hard to keep a good balance—also stopping, though that wasn't wanted, was impossible. There was someone at the base of the mountain. Ratchet yelled at them hoping they would hear him as he ran. The person turned around to see what was shouting at him. It was the man who found Femka. She was passed out in his arms with a blanket or something around her body. The running Lombax couldn't stop himself and he collided with the man bouncing off of him not even causing him to move an inch. Ratchet slowly stood on his two feet shaking his head and body of the snow that covered him. His head titled when he noticed who he bumped into.

"The Plumber?" he said with a twitch off his nose. "Is that…" He blinked his eyes wide with a gape of his mouth. "Femka!"

"Do you two know each other?" he asked.

"We've been looking all over for her! Where did you find her?"

"The poor thing stumbled down the mountain side over there. Bumped into me while I was taking a look a pipe."

"Ratchet…" Clank interrupted the mechanic's conversation pointing to the creature that was still pursuing them.

"Oh, no…"

The Plumber sniffled through his nose with a light smile handing Femka's sleeping body to Ratchet as he walked toward the Guhltawk. The massive beast stopped when they met ways and growled at the plumber showing his fierce teeth. He wasn't fazed one bit. The blue plumber took out a tool of his own and smacked it against the monster's nose.

"You get outta here, now."

The creature squeaked a small noise through its mouth.

"Go on. Get!" he shooed with his hands. "Off with ya."

The Guhltawk sniffed with a heavy exhale like its feelings had just been hurt. It turned around and scurried back up the mountain path and in through a small forest. Ratchet stood there confused as ever but his puzzlement didn't last when he looked back at the woman in his arms. They couldn't just stand there; she was probably close to death by now.

"I have no idea how you just did what you did but thanks. I really need to get her back to our ship," Ratchet said looking at the Plumber who was returning.

"All in a day's work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got another appointment."

Ratchet watched the strange man walk away whistling some tune and he quickly summed his ship to rendezvous at their location. Ratchet looked down at Femka as their ship circled above for landing. He pressed two fingers onto her throat to check her pulse. It was hard to feel for but it was still there, though faint and slow.

"We must take her to a hospital," Clank said standing on the ground by his partner's feet.

"Right."

• • •

"Femka?"

She could hear a familiar voice calling out to her. It was the same voice like long before, that month ago when she was asleep for a few days. The dream was different this time but everything was white.

"Femka?" the voice said again.

Her tired eyes pushed to open even just a small crack. All objects were blurred together with the bright background. Femka was in an infirmary still on planet Aranos. She was brought there in the nick of time. She was suffering from mild hypothermia and dehydration. If she stayed out there any longer she would have froze to death. She could feel something on her face—one of those oxygen tubes was up her nose with a mask to cover it. Femka coughed feeling phlegm surface in her throat and something pinching at her arm. Her chest hurt, it was tight. After coughing again her eyes opened more and her head turned to look about the room.

"Fem."

Her head turned to the voice. Surely enough it was the Lombax she admired and Clank was right by his side. Her eyes opened wider. Oh, was she happy to see him. She only wished she had the energy to leap up out of bed. She pushed her back up but when she tried to speak her voice was raspy and crackled with a cough.

"Hey, take it easy," he said standing up and gently pushing her to lie back down. "You're sick. The doctor said you have bronchitis. He also said that you have asthma, which is pretty important to know, since I had no idea. But you'll be alright. You just need to relax here for a little bit, okay?"

Femka shook her head with an anxious visage about her.

"Why not okay?" One of his ears flinched as he stared at her confused.

"I have to tell you…" Femka tried speaking again and only coughed as a result. "It's about… I…"

"Calm down, don't get excited. You can tell me later."

"No…," she coughed and her voice squeaked as she again tried to sit up. "I have to tell you now."

"Fem, lay down." His hands held her shoulders.

"Ratchet, maybe we should listen to her. It may be vital for us to hear."

"It's about Ipsin," she continued after Clank and stared at Ratchet. "He was the one who kidnapped me." Another cough was muffled through her oxygen mask. "I know what he's doing. I know what he wants… He's gonna come back for me…"

"Oh, not if I have something to do about it. Do you know where he is now?"

"No," she said somewhat scared.

"It's alright. Lay back down, now. We'll get off of Aranos as soon we can."

Femka nodded and put her back against the bed. She was frustrated that she was sick. It meant that she had to stay in the hospital for however long and couldn't leave until she was better. Bronchitis took weeks to go away from what she was used to. Ipsin was sure to come to the planet by then and who knows what he would bring with him. She just didn't want to go through with what she did earlier all over again. She also didn't want Ratchet to deal with him but it seemed personal for him now. Ratchet left her side for a moment to speak with the doctor while Clank kept her company until he returned shortly after.

"We'll leave soon. The doctor needs to prescribe something for you, though. And yes it's safe." He smiled. "It'll just help with your bronchitis. I'm not sure how medically advanced your planet is but it should make you feel better in a day or so."

"How did you find me?" Femka asked looking up at him.

"We tracked the ship's serial number. We even have the coordinates of where it was originally headed for."

"Indeed," Clank approved. "We were able to synchronize with your comm-link before we lost track of your whereabouts first, however."

"Right and so now that lunatic's run off somewhere, huh?"

Femka simply nodded and coughed slightly.

"I knew he wasn't right upstairs. What did want you for?"

"He said at first he wanted my necklace, and that the incident in the alley at Meridian was a setup so he could take it. But then he saw what I could do, and he wanted to use my ability for something."

"For what?" Clank asked.

"For some device. He said he knew everything about the material in my necklace. He called it Neroltrium and that it was from his solar system on some planet. He told me that a long time ago some tyrant mined for Neroltrium and he used it to his advantage but he was thrown over. Ipsin wants to make a device like that tyrant did and use it to finish what he started… I think." She paused to cough another time. "Ipsin said he wanted to blow up some planet where his species was from. He said he wasn't from Polaris at all."

"So that's why he wants to come for you? He wants to use your ability like some kind of battery?" the Lombax questioned.

"Yeah, that's what he said. And… my necklace… It made me curious. I think my planet may be in your universe somewhere, because of the Neroltrium being scattered. It made it to Earth just like it made it to Igliak."

"That's good news," he smiled to her again. "But we've got a demented researcher to find first."

Femka smiled up at him. She felt weak from more than just being sick. He stunts back on the cargo ship depleted her of her energy. It might take a good rest before she was up on her feet like normal. She hoped that the medicine the doctor would give her would help. When he came into the room, Femka could only understand him through the translator's frequency that Ratchet carried with him. He gave her a bottle of capsules and told her how she must take them. Eat first, drink something and then have one twice a day until the bottle was empty. Typical procedures just like at home.

The woman was demanded to stay until the end of the day when she was allowed to be released. The clothes she came in were exchanged for something more suitable for her to wear. She was able to walk around but Femka felt light-headed and tired. The ship was waiting outside for her and the three went forward and inside. Femka sat down in the back of the hull and lain down on the seats there as the ship began to take off into the air. A few thoughts entered her mind as they left the planet. One thought concerned her things left on Pokitaru and another about not being able to see Veldin. She was too sick for sightseeing; and at the moment it was imperative to apprehend Ipsin—or at least find out where he was. Those other things would just have to wait for now.

"Where are we heading first, Ratchet?" Clank asked as the planet behind them was no longer visible.

"We're going back to Polaris first. I know we have Ipsin's coordinates but that doesn't mean he's there right now. Also, I don't want Femka with us when we look for him."

"Is it a good idea to go to Polaris, though, considering that is where Doctor Ipsin is living?" The small robot's eyes blinked with a spin. "Perhaps we should alert Captain Qwark of the situation?"

"Do we really have to?" Ratchet's ears pressed backward.

"I suppose it is not necessary but he could alert the museum if by chance Ipsin is there."

"Well, you're probably right. We don't know where he is anyway."

The Lombax pressed a few buttons on the panel in front of him opening up a connection to Qwark's office back at Meridian City. The line rang for a moment until a voice answered. It wasn't Qwark, though.

"Hello, you've reached Galactic Presidential Captain Qwark's service desk. How may I help you?" a feminine voice spoke.

"We need to speak to Qwark, it's kind of urgent."

"May I ask who's calling?"

"This is Ratchet."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ratchet, but the President is busy at a meeting. Would you like me to send you to his voice mail?"

"No, I'd like you to let me speak with him," Ratchet said slightly irritated and pondering what exactly Qwark even did at a meeting—besides taking credit for everything accomplished not by himself.

"I'm sorry sir, but he's in dispose. This meeting is very official, very important. That's what the sticky note said on his door."

"Look, it's really crucial that I speak with him… now."

Ratchet's ears flinched when he could hear another voice in the room. It was definitely Qwark's. The mechanic's brow lowered and his face was dry hearing a whispered conversation between the woman on the phone and the President himself.

"One moment sir," she said.

Femka was listening from the end of the room with an amused expression on her face. She could hear the talking going on in the background.

"Alright, Mr. Ratchet, he will speak with you now."

"Oh, great."

There was a moment of silence until the President's voice spoke on the line finally.

"Hello?"

"Qwark? Listen, I have to ask you something very important and—"

"Ah, Ratchet!"

"Yeah, hi, anyway, Qwark, there's someone who's—"

"I wasn't expecting a call from you. You know, I was in a very important meeting concerning some very important matters."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was. Could you listen for a second?"

"Sure, sure. But just to let you know, I usually schedule my phone conversations, as my busy agenda is… busy. But when my secretary here told me who was on the line, I ignored my eleven o'clock appointment with the interior designer and took your call instead. I've been thinking about changing the long carpet to a royal blue color but I had a revelation last night at three in the morning, realizing that my office would be suited to a green colored carpet instead. Emerald green, to be exact."

Ratchet rolled his eyes to the back of his head after hearing Qwark ramble.

"Okay, Qwark. There's a man named Doctor Ipsin Ro. He works at the National Museum of Science and Archeology there in Meridian."

"Oh, I know that fellow. Strange, obsessed over rocks… Pretty boring, if you ask me."

"We're trying to find him. We _need_ to find him," the Lombax stressed.

"I didn't think you were that into rocks."

"I'm not! But we have to find him. He's a lunatic. We just came back from Aranos, because he kidnapped a friend of mine all for a necklace with a rock on it and his ship crashed there. He ran off somewhere but we don't know where he is. He's got some weird plan up his sleeve and it's important that he's located so he can be apprehended or something!"

"I knew he was crazy about rocks," Qwark whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"Extremely."

"I'll see what I can do for you, old friend. In the meantime, I've got some business to attend to about my tacky foyer."

"We'll stand by for your call."

The transmission cut out.

"Hopefully Captain Qwark will be able to find Doctor Ipsin," Clank said looking at his friend.

"So do I." Ratchet shook his head. "What a nutcase."

"I do not agree with his logic either."

"What logic?" Ratchet's voice cracked with a smile and sarcasm.

For the meanwhile, Ratchet would let the ship still head in the direction of Polaris. It would take them several hours to get back there anyway, so they had time to wait for Qwark's message. Between now and then, Femka would sleep and Ratchet would make a stop at one of Gadgetron's vendors. Picking up a weapon or something might come in handy for later on. Eventually a personal message was received by the ship's computer a few hours later.

"Incoming message from Captain Qwark." Clank proceeded to read the typed message silently.

"You know, it's kind of funny. I can hear his voice in my head when I read it," Ratchet said with an odd look on his face that slowly went unpleasant.

_Ratchet and Clank,_

_ I was able to contact the museum concerning that Doctor what's-his-face. Unfortunately, they told me that he was in earlier but he quit his job for some random reason that I really wasn't at all interested in. But don't worry. We'll keep our eyes peeled for him! Oh, by the way, you should see what I did with the office. I was thinking about putting a giant chocolate fountain in my room. Anyway, I've got some other matters to attend to._

_Sincerely,_

_G.P.C.C.L. Qwark_

"He quit?" Ratchet sat up in his seat.

"Hm, well, after what he has in mind, I do not think it would be possible for him to have another job in Polaris. Though, it makes me wonder what galaxy he is from exactly."

"There goes one way of knowing where he is. I guess if he's probably not coming back to Igliak it's safe to take Femka there. Then, we can go to those coordinates and see if he's there or not."

"Yes. It is doubtful that he knows Miss Femka is with us at the moment. But if he searches for us later, I am sure that he would think she would be with us then."

"Exactly."

"Incoming message from unknown ship," Clank announced.

"Who now?" Ratchet bothered to ask giving Clank the okay to open a link between the two ships.

A familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Ipsin. Just the guy we were looking for," Ratchet said with a perk of his brow.

"And just the Lombax I wanted to see. I do believe that you have something that belongs to me."

"I don't know. Last time I checked Femka wasn't 'something' and she definitely didn't belong to you."

"Don't be smart." Ipsin's face grew stern. "Hand her over, rodent, or I _will_ open fire on your vessel."

"I don't think you're that intrepid."

"Ratchet, please do not tempt him," Clank pleaded.

"C'mon. He'd endanger Femka. He won't shoot us."

"I disagree. I may not want to harm your cargo but I'm not going to stop my ship from firing at you until you can no longer control your direction. You have one last warning. Give Femka to me and you can go about your life. This doesn't even have anything to do with you anyway."

"I really beg to differ, Doctor." Ratchet gripped his controls firmly in his hands.

"Fine then. We'll see how fast you fall." His transmission ended.

"Ratchet, we cannot combat his ship. The radar is showing it as far too large for any of our weapons to dismantle it."

"I'm aware of that."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I haven't thought that far yet…"

There was a thud from the back of the ship. Ipsin wasn't joking. He had instantly opened fire on them. Ratchet quickly increased the small vessel's shield uptake as well as speed. The bounce woke Femka up from her sleep. She missed the little conversation. Her confused face looked about the ship and the pilots.

"What's going on?"

"Oh, hey, glad you're awake. We found Ipsin."

"You did?"

"Yeah, and he's currently shooting at us. Unfortunately, I don't really have much of a plan at the moment, so we might be a little screwed."

"No. I have an idea." Femka stood up, still tired and sniffling. "Open up another link with him."

"Shouldn't you tell me your plan first?"

"We'll negotiate. Just open a channel."

The Lombax shrugged his shoulders and attempted to send a transmission to the crazed researcher. His face was in view and somewhat surprised to see Femka standing there this time.

"Come to your senses?" he asked without a pause.

"Ipsin, if you promise to stop shooting at Ratchet and Clank, I'll do what you say."

Both the Lombax and the small robot looked at her strangely. Ratchet only hoped that she knew what she was doing. Ipsin again seemed taken aback but kindly nodded his head.

"Of course. I told them it had nothing to do with them. But if you really wish to comply with me, then fly your vessel over to my ship and I will let you land in the hanger. Some men of mine will be there to greet you and bring you to me. But Ratchet and Clank must stay behind and leave instantly. Don't try anything funny, either."

"Okay. I understand."

The researcher ended the transmission and Ratchet stared at her like she was insane.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm infiltrating his ship."

"What, by yourself?" the mechanic said skeptical.

"I can destroy it from the inside. You saw his other ship, right? The one that crashed? I did that. I can do it again."

"Yeah, but how will you escape? And how will you stop him? He escaped last time—hence why he's here right now. And besides, you're sick. You hardly have the strength to do something like this."

"Well, you don't have a plan, do you? What else is there?"

There was a minute of awkward quietness before Clank broke the silence.

"Perhaps we should let Miss Femka go about her plan. It may seem unorthodox but it is all we have to follow."

"Alright, fine," Ratchet gave in begrudgingly steering the ship to Ipsin's vessel.

As they approached it one of the sides opened to reveal the hanger. Before entering Ratchet stood up from his seat and took off his communicator and handed it to Femka.

"You'll need this since you lost yours. Hide it somewhere."

Femka stared at the device and put it in her shirt near her chest staring back at Ratchet with a small smile and a shrug.

"That works…" His tail flicked back and forth and a sigh escaped his mouth before he spoke again. "Clank and I will keep the ship in close proximity. We still have the coordinates of where he was going to in the first place—hopefully that's still where he's heading. Anyway." His hand scratched the side of his face and he stared at Femka. "Just be careful."

"I will."

She smiled at him as bravely as she could. She was nervous as all hell to just do what she had in mind but Ipsin needed to be stopped this time. Ratchet returned to his seat to land the ship in the hanger. Femka watched the outside as she could see a few men entering the spacious room and coming toward the ship. She felt a knot forming in her stomach—and it wasn't from the bronchitis she had—it was from the thought of dying. She had seen death in the face a couple times already during her stay in this foreign universe. Today might not be the exception. Another thing rattled her mind once again, her personal thoughts. Those were dismissed fast when Ratchet came back to her.

"Are you ready?"

"I guess so." Her eyes looked at the floor. "There's no turning back now, though," she said looking at the door to the ship and glancing back at her friend. "Well, here I go."

The woman reluctantly waited for the exit to open and she stepped off of the ship. She didn't look back to her friends but instead marched forward to the group of thugs or crewmen who were waiting for her.

"I really hope she knows what she's doing," Ratchet said watching her move onward with the men.

"We must have faith in her decision. I am certain she will manage," Clank reassured his partner as their ship began to lift off and fly out of the hanger.

"Well, just to be safe, we'll follow him. I installed that cloaking device onto this ship a couple weeks ago."

Clank wasn't surprised that Ratchet removed the device from his other ship to put it onto the one they flew now. Regardless, their vessel stayed close by with Ipsin. Ratchet would keep them out of sight and listen for anything from the communicator he gave to Femka, only hoping there was no jammer within Ipsin's ship. Back inside the massive transport, the Earthling was being escorted directly to Ipsin in the control room. She wasn't happy to see that man again. Her body was still feeling weak and fatigued. Occasionally she would cough but the pills she took earlier were helping. But it was his fault she was like this in the first place. She glared at him when she entered the room only to see him smiling.

"It's nice to see you, too," he chuckled.

"Shut up. You got what you wanted."

"Indeed I did. I have something to show you now. Come with me."

He seemed to be unfazed by her anger and walked right past her. The men behind her pointed with their guns for her to follow him. She had no choice but to comply. But in her mind she was only thinking about what she should really do to take this lunatic down. Ratchet was right. Her plan was just as half-thought-out as Ipsin's was. Femka didn't know really how to go about this. At the same time, however, she only could imagine what he wanted to show her. He ended up leading her down several long hallways and corridors until they took a lift down to the heart of the ship. There was the room that harbored the ship's supercomputer. Ipsin seemed proud about it for some reason. Femka's eyes didn't focus on him so much as they were fixed on all the computers and wires that were around her.

"Do you like it?" he spoke walking further into the room that suddenly was lit more with his steps. "I've worked ages to get this ship to the way it is now. And it's very special."

"Yeah?" Femka stared at the man.

"Mhm. I've modified it for you. Actually, it's been modified for the Neroltrium for decades but since you're here I made some quick re-modifications in the short time we spent apart."

Ipsin stepped to the middle of the room to reveal something that looked like the Gyro-Cycle but stationary. There were wires coming out of the sphere-like object. He motioned the woman to come closer to it. She looked at the bizarre thing and turned her confused gaze over to Ipsin.

"I see you're mystified. Let me to explain. This machine here will allow you to connect with the ship's computer and supply it with your energy making this large vessel the most powerful and destructive thing anyone's ever seen. Like I said before, I've been working on this for awhile and it was originally just used for the Neroltrium alone. But now it'll work for you. What do you think?" he smiled at her.

"I think you're insane… still."

"Ah, of course. Well, Femka, there's more to my story than what I mentioned before," he began. "Sergua's species, my species, had always been rather insistent in the past. It's still like that today. The reason I came to Polaris was because I was banished."

"Banished?" That didn't shock her at all.

"Yes. I was forced to leave my planet for studies that were inhumane. I was studying with the remaining Neroltrium. It's just so fascinating. But I was told I must stop, but I didn't want to. The stuff was deemed illegal long before I got my hands on it. There's so much you can do with it, though! It's so powerful! But I suppose that's why they wanted me to stop. They say it can go to your head. With the Neroltrium that I had I was making outstanding inventions. Unfortunately, they found out and banished me. So, I went to Polaris, since my name easily spread about our solar system. I wouldn't be accepted anywhere, because of the things that I'd done. In Polaris no one knew my name and as I mentioned before I was ecstatic about the Neroltrium that made it to planet Igliak. It was just coincidental that I happened to be there. Amazing, isn't it? Ah, but now I need to finish the job."

Femka watched flabbergast as the man walked past her and over to the computers, typing some things in and turning some knobs before coming back to her.

"You and I will show those fools back in my solar system, won't we?" He took several steps toward her.

She only backed away nervously and shook her head keeping her eyes on him.

"You have to. You have no choice. Your friends left you here with me and there's no way you're getting off of this ship. You must comply."

His face was unyielding and his voice sounded like a machine. He was really twisted. Though, Femka could merely continue her steps away from him. She didn't want to be a part of this. Ipsin grabbed a hold of her wrist and brought her closer to him. She tried to get away from his grip but his hand wrapped tight. His fingers pressed into her small wrist.

"Let me go!" she winced with a cough.

"A little sick and weakly, aren't we? I don't think you'll be much of threat to me."

Ipsin forcibly dragged her along back to the center of the room to the sphere despite her resisting and trying to punch or kick him. He was able to easily toss her into the chamber and connect her to the system by attaching some sort of cuffs to her that covered hands and feet forcing her to stand and keeping her in place.

"Let me out!" she yelled as he closed the sphere shut. Her yells were muffled.

"_What now, genius?"_ she yelled at herself mentally. _"You're stuck in here and you can't even gather up the strength to blow this piece of machinery up."_

She watched helplessly as the obsessed researcher worked away at the computer terminal near her. He was initiating the program that would link her body with the network of the ship, permitting it to take her energy when conjured. Ipsin looked back at her when everything was set-up on his end. The computers around her were flashing symbols and lights—even the sphere she was trapped in was lighting up.

"By the time we make it to the Reiggel galaxy you should be healthy enough to give my ship some of your power. Until then, enjoy yourself in that globe."

The Doctor smirked at her and began to exit the room leaving her behind.

"You bastard! Get back here and let me out!" she screamed as hard as she could. She felt her throat stinging and another heavy cough slipped from her mouth. "Great," she said with a crackle of her voice. "I'm screwed…"

The moment of despair blew over quickly when she heard the communicator under her clothing sound off. Her eyes looked about the room to see that Ipsin was gone. She was the only one there.

"Femka? Can you hear me?"

She stared back to her shirt and responded with a raspy whisper.

"Yeah, I can hear you. I'm trapped in here, Ratchet. I'm stuck in the middle of the ship in some… weird, ball thing…"

"Don't worry. We're following his ship. He hasn't detected us yet. We're going to land outside and make our way to you. Can you synch your comm-link to my nav-unit?"

"No, I can't move my arms or legs. I'm stuck. I don't know when he'll be back or how long it'll take to get to Reiggel."

"Reiggel? Is that the galaxy he's going to?"

"Yeah, it's where he's from. He said by the time we get there I should be healthy enough for him to commence his asinine plan."

"Alright. Just hang tight for a little while longer. We're approaching the ship now. Beginning radio silence."

The transmission ended.

"Please hurry." Femka sighed through her nose.

On the outside of the hulking ship, Ratchet's small vessel was making a landing on the side still keeping its invisibility.

"Déjà vu, huh?" Ratchet said to Clank unstrapping himself from his seat.

"Let us just hope the enemies inside are just as insipid as the pirates were," Clank remarked hopping out his chair.

"Well, if they're anything like the guys we met on Aranos, then I don't really think there's much to worry about."

The mechanic changed his some of his wardrobe to fit the elements they'd be entering. His gasmask naturally went onto his face knowing that he had to fulfill the same procedure like he did on the pirate ship. Clank jumped onto his friend's back when he was ready and the both of them left the ship to walk along the side and look for a good entrance, one that wouldn't cause too much of a ruckus.

"This looks good enough. Femka did say she was in the center of the ship, so…"

The Lombax got to work, removing one of the panels with his wrench. It was a little more difficult this time. It wasn't just one panel he had to remove, there were also other slates of metal and wires he needed to cut until the two finally made a breech inside a room. Unfortunately for them, there was a crew member inside with them. The henchman looked back at the stranger with a confused but menacing look shortly after. His gun lifted from his side but before he got a chance to fire, Ratchet ran up to him kicking it from his hand and smacked him over the head with his wrench watching him fall to the floor with his tongue hanging out.

"Phew. That's taken care of. Let's find Femka."

Ratchet stuck his head out from the room they were to look around the corridors. There were men here and there walking about, most of them were robots, however. It was always easier to have a robot army anyway nowadays. Ratchet would take the risk and run out of the room but not before trying to synchronize his nav-unit with Femka's location aboard the ship. The thing was too big just to go running around looking blindly for someone.

"Aha!" he exclaimed quietly having obtained Femak's whereabouts.

She wasn't that far. Just a couple floors below and straight ahead. Ratchet proceeded out of the room with a dash on his feet. Robots ahead spotted him naturally and opened their fire on him. Luckily there were a few weapons he was able to bring along with him. Easy to say, when the going got tough, the though got dancing, unwillingly of course, by means of the Groovitron. Causing a ruckus wasn't exactly on the agenda anymore. The Lombax was being bombarded, so he had to retaliate with force. Ipsin already knew something was amiss. One of the robots sounded the alarm. Femka saw the lights flashing from the computer room she was in and held her breath for Ratchet and Clank. The two, meanwhile, were almost there.

"Ratchet, Miss Femka should be in a room directly ahead of us," Clank alerted his friend.

"Got'cha!"

As the Lombax advanced to the door there was a loud shot from behind him causing him to dive to the ground to avoid the damage. His head lifted and looked back to see Ipsin with a large robot firearm at his side.

"Don't enter that room, Lombax."

"What, this room?" he stood up pointing to the door near him with his thumb. "I wasn't even thinking about it."

"Don't play games with me. You've really gotten on my nerves. I think I understand why the Cragmites wanted to wipe your species off the map."

"Oh, really? Look, crazy Doctor-researcher…"

"I'm not crazy!" the red alien retorted with a snap. "I'm not going to let you ruin my plans! I've worked too hard on this!"

In his anger he ordered the machine standing near him to fire continuously at the Lombax some feet ahead. Ratchet dove out of the way as the shots knocked the door off its track. Femka gasped at the action that busted into the room.

"Ratchet!"

Femka's muffled yell barely traveled to Ratchet's large ears. He lifted his head from the smoke created by Ipsin's maniacal shooting and saw his entrapped friend.

"Fem!" He began running in the room ahead.

"Stay away from her!" Ipsin yelled behind him and let his robot do the negotiating.

Some of the bullets fired into the computer room hitting his equipment creating small sparks. Ratchet continued to make his way to Femka regardless of crazed man's warning.

"Get me out of this thing!" Femka pleaded with a cough.

"I'm trying, I'm trying! It's hard to concentrate with this nut job yelling obscenities behind me and shooting at me."

The sphere opened up as the mechanic tampered with the computer terminal next to it. He jumped inside with her and tried to disconnect the braces that were on her feet and hands but they wouldn't budge.

"Just break them off!"

"I don't want hurt you." His ears moved backward.

"Ratchet, Ipsin is drawing near," Clank warned.

Ratchet turned around to see the Doctor coming forward with his death-bot and other men behind him. He stopped firing realizing the damage he was doing to his computers.

"Step down, rodent, and I promise I won't kill you slowly," the researcher demanded.

Ratchet turned around to watch the Doctor stand in the room with his support by his side. The mechanic situated himself in front of Femka.

"I think I'd die quicker drowning in puddle than by you. All you've been doing is having other machines do the job for you," Ratchet remarked with a sarcastic smile.

"I don't think you're much different, _mechanic_. You've been using weapons yourself. You're just as dependent as I am on technology."

"Are you kidding? I could take you out with my bare hands."

"I'd like to see you try." Ipsin raised his brows and signaled his crew to remove the Lombax from his position.

He was strict to make it a point to not open fire while in this room. Some of the equipment was already damaged—but just lightly. Ipsin wanted Ratchet away from Femka. Some overgrown men ran towards him and he charged them back jumping from the sphere his friend was being detained in. They would try to fight for his weapons but just because Ipsin told his men not to shoot didn't mean that the mechanic wouldn't. He wasn't here to prove a point; he was here to take back Femka. One of Ipsin's men, however, came after him from behind swooping down on the Lombax's shoulder with his gun and sending him to the ground. He rolled onto his back as the fearsome alien was about to ram the butt of his gun onto him with all his might. Ratchet turned the power on to his hover boots moving his legs in the air and created a flame to torch the man's gun as Ratchet was sent backward from the push of the boots. He watched as the alien dropped his hot melting firearm and whipped his hands around from the searing sting. The mechanic stood back on his feet coming face to face with another thug when he did. He swung his gun around at him and smashed it on the ground with Ratchet hopping out of the way. They were trying their best to gang up on him and Femka only watched from where she was. Her eyes followed Ratchet but were taken away by Ipsin moving close to her. He was pressing some buttons on the terminal by her again.

"You know, it's a good thing that creatures like Ratchet are easily distracted." He glanced at her with a frightening smile. "We're still far from Reiggel but I'd like to try my cannon power on something nearby first, just to see how well you keep up, that is."

The sphere closed around Femka once again and she yelled out to Ratchet. The yells from around the room didn't let hers carry across well. He was being bombarded by thug after thug. How many of these guys did Ipsin have lying around this ship anyway? He commenced with his operation. There was an asteroid belt he would test it on first. Something small and easy. Everything was ready.

"Now to see if the connection between you and my computer actually works," the depraved man said hitting another switch.

Femka watched with a turn of her head at the lights on the sphere that lit up and made a humming sound. The cuffs around her hands and feet lit up brightly as well. She cringed at the loud electric sound the machine was making.

"How is this even supposed to work?" she yelled out to Ipsin.

"It's supposed to provoke the energy inside you and then it'll flow through the machine and into my ship."

"Provoke?" Femka exclaimed.

The loud sounds from the machine forced Ratchet's attention in Femka's and Ipsin's direction nearly getting him hit over the head with a bludgeon.

"Guess he wants to get a head start."

"We must rescue her and put an end to this madness," the little robot proposed.

"Agreed."

Ratchet was on the other side of the room thanks to his attackers coming at him one after the next. He could see Femka from where he was until another thug and a few robots stepped in his way.

"Yes, provoke," the Doctor answered Femka. "I doubt you were just going to give me the energy willingly. You know what shock therapy is, right? Think of it as something like that."

Hearing him speak like that made the woman flinch and pull with her arms and legs. She wasn't about to get electrocuted! She squirmed but nothing to her avail—she was stuck in those braces. She could hear the machine cycling through some thought process as Ipsin pressed a few keys on his consol. A small jerk of electricity jolted through Femka's tired body. She winced and yelped at the sudden feeling. It felt like static shock, when you accidentally touch another person's skin and you get zapped. It was like that but to a greater degree. Femka knew what he was really trying to do. He wasn't provoking the energy; he was provoking her so she could conjure it up in her distressed, emotional state of mind and release it like she did before. She couldn't let him do that—no matter how much it hurt. Ipsin saw the look on her face. His hand immediately forced the amps up a notch and Femka only trembled from the pain.

"We can play this game all day until you pass out," he said emotionless releasing another shock.

"_I don't know how much of this I can take…,"_ Femka winced. _"I have to think… This ship is designed for Neroltrium. If I want to overpower it I have to summon up as much energy as I can. I have to concentrate."_

Femka's eyes closed after receiving another gracious dose of electric torture. She was going to give Ipsin what he wanted; she was going to give him more than he could handle. She squeezed her hands inside the braces that hid them and curled her fingers in her palms. Her eyes opened to see Ratchet fighting his way through and coming towards her. Her eyes closed again tightly, her breath slowed down until she held it. Everything felt like it was slowing down all around her as well. Her mind closed off to the things that were going on outside and she focused as hard as she could. Femka let herself travel to all the moments that brought her pain and suffering—even the small things. The necklace around her neck began to lightly glow.

"That's it… That's it…" Ipsin cracked a small smile. He watched Femka's exterior waver with the blue and purple aura. His eyes watched his computer gauge. "A little more…"

He eventually got a little more and a little more after that as well. His face was filled with every joy. His entire ship was completely repowered with limitless energy. Though, it was starting to get out of hand. She managed to build up enough energy in such a short period of time. His fingers quickly moved across the terminal to switch off the machine but a spark flew at him blowing off one of the panels on the side. Ipsin ran up to the sphere and opened it.

"You've done enough, Femka."

She wasn't listening to him. Her eyes were still shut tight and she continued to pump the stuff out of her body and into the machine. The lights in the room flickered. A sight all too familiar for him and the others. Ratchet stopped running and looked around feeling yet another déjà vu loom above him. The men who were assaulting him ceased as well. Some of them knew what was going on again as they remembered from the last endeavor. Ipsin tried to reach out to Femka but he was shocked in the process. His attempt to undo the cuffs around her hands and feet failed as well. It was hard to just stand near the woman.

"Can't you hear me? I said enough!" he yelled.

His ship was beginning to shake on the interior. The computers in the room flashed a warning sign as the supercomputer directed the message over the intercom.

"Not again…," he lamented.

With a grunt the red alien ran to one of his men and took a gun from his hands. If he couldn't talk her out of her destruction he'd shoot her instead. He aimed the gun at Femka ready to fire.

"No!" Ratchet yelled from close by. He ran to Ipsin and grabbed a hold from behind him.

"Get off me!" he shook and thrashed until Ratchet released him. He swung around pointing the gun at the Lombax.

"You can't shoot her!"

"Why not? I have enough energy anyway! If she keeps this up my whole ship will go down in smoke!"

"I don't really see a problem with that." Ratchet jumped at Ipsin once again lifting up his gun as the man fired a shot to the air.

He would fight him tooth and nail until that gun was out of his hands. He knocked it away from him with a swift kick of his foot. Ipsin wasn't much of a combatant. The Lombax leaped at Ipsin pushing him down to the ground holding his arm against his neck.

"Remember when I said could take you out with my bare hands? I wasn't joking."

"And what now?" the Doctor exhaled deeply. "Are you just going to let her continue with the rampage of my ship? We'll all die if she doesn't stop."

"He is right, Ratchet. We must find a way to calm Miss Femka down so we can leave. We will worry about Ipsin another time. Right now our lives and hers depend on it," Clank asserted forcing Ratchet to life himself off of the man.

He slowly backed away from Ipsin until he turned and ran to Femka taking his eyes off of the researcher that lay on the floor. Femka was working up an electric storm from the center of the room. The terminal that was next to her was toast and the computers around were falling apart. The room was becoming a deserted mess. Ipsin's men left long ago. They weren't about to be killed twice. The braces around Femka's hands and feet were breaking off slowly but she still wasn't letting up. Her eyes were closed tight and her expression was intense yet full of distress.

"Femka!" Ratchet yelled out to her. "You have to stop!"

When she didn't listen he attempted to reach out to her but only was shocked when his hand came close just like Ipsin was.

"Fem! Enough!" he yelled again. "She's not listening, Clank."

"Despite your wishes to not cause her pain, I believe it is necessary to break the links on her hands and feet. Maybe then she will respond."

Against his better judgment, he agreed with Clank. She was slightly suspended the way she was. If she dropped maybe it would bring her to her senses. Ratchet took out a gun and blasted off the wires connecting the cuffs to the sphere. Femka fell forward landing on her hands and knees and then to the ground. She grunted after hitting the floor and opened her eyes breathing heavily, the aura of blue and purple electricity floated around her body. She glanced up at Ratchet who kneeled down to her level.

"I'm alright…," she said quickly with her voice shaken trying to sit up.

"Good, because we need to get out of—" His sentence cut off as his friend fell back down to the ground. "Fem!" He turned her over lifting her head up.

"I… I'm so tired…"

"Don't worry, I'll carry you out," he said in a hurry picking her up in his arms.

"I've been meaning to tell you something…," she began as Ratchet started to run out of the room. "Except I've been having trouble…"

"Fem, don't talk, just conserve your energy and try to stay awake. We'll be out of here soon."

"But it's important…"

Ratchet hurried out of the room and down the collapsing corridors. He didn't see Ipsin as he left. The thought left his mind instantly when a piece of ceiling panel fell in front of him almost knocking him off balance. He hurried around it and moved fast to locate his ship. The path they took before was barricaded with rubble and wreckage.

"Crap. Okay, look for another way. Another way…"

"Ratchet, I have to tell you," the woman tried again but was ignored.

The mechanic hurried down a different hallway. Any hopes of using the elevator were quickly tossed in the trash as the computer's intelligence was deteriorating by the second. Another inconvenience was the lack of oxygen circulating throughout the ship. The further up Ratchet went the more he noticed it was harder to breathe. The oxygen mask he was wearing earlier went straight onto Femka's face.

"I really regret only having one of these," he said as he rushed down a familiar hallway.

There it was—the room they entered through. The oxygen was thin and barely existing from the removed panel that was letting it all out into space. Ratchet held his breath (if that actually works) and carried Femka out of the ship. His vessel was close by no longer under its cloaking device. Holding his breath was turning out to be a terrible decision. The Lombax felt himself suffocating as he ran to the ship. The side door opened without delay as he stumbled in almost dropping Femka, his breath released and his eyes blinked watering as he inhaled the supply of oxygen on the ship.

"Clank, detach the ship and get us out of here," he said catching his breath.

The small robot leaped from his friend's back and hopped over to the controls. The ship separated from Ipsin's damaged vessel. The fireworks were still going on inside. A small explosion gave lift to Ratchet's equally small ship and it began in another direction.

"Set coordinates to Polaris."

"Aye-aye. Initiating auto-pilot."

Ratchet's ship turned around and flew over Ipsin's exploding vessel. The thought of whether he was still even on it or not crossed all of their minds. If he was, he was dead by now. The mother ship was deteriorating section by section. They flew further away from the mess and behind them they could see an explosion in the distance sending all of the ship's parts throughout space. Femka was looking up at Ratchet with half-opened eyes. He sat down with her on his lap in the back of the hull taking off the mask on her face and propping her head up slightly with his hand and arm. A small smile revealed itself from underneath the gasmask. He gave a whimsical smile back at her. Not a moment later she passed out. Everything went black again. It was safe to say that she wouldn't be waking for a long time.


	11. But How do I get Home Now?

**Chapter Ten**

Femka felt like she was trapped inside an ever-changing dream land. She could see the events that recently occurred happening again in her mind as she remembered them. At the same time her dreams would take her back home to Earth. She would be with her mom and Alexander. He and she would go about driving or something, going somewhere they've been wanting to go for awhile. Alexander did like road trips to other places after all. He was always driving his car. When her dreams didn't focus around her memories of home they created new ones. But they were so long. They felt eternal but they constantly were switching from new dream to new dream and occasionally picking up into another dream that already happened. There was a point where Femka was walking in a city that looked like Meridian in her current dream. The background was still warped and blurred. The sounds around her were muffled and every step she took changed the scenery around her in some way. It was turning into night and the sun went away in an instant. Everything around her turned into blackness. Femka felt like she was in a place between sleep and being awake. She was waiting for this moment for what felt like forever.

"I'm asleep," she said to herself. "No, my dream's finished. I know this feeling. Why can't I wake up? It feels like I'm stuck…"

Her body flinched as her eyes opened. She was paralyzed. Her brain was shut off. Her body was still locked in sleep but her mind was awake and her eyes glanced around the room. She was back at the garage in Ratchet's room. They made it to Igliak safely in spite of everything. The area was dimly lit from the light coming into the room by the rising sun. It was the crack of dawn. She continued to scan the room with her opened eyes. Her clothes had been changed into something lighter than the other outfit she remembered she was wearing. When her eyes drifted to the left she noticed an intravenous had been placed in her arm pumping some liquid through the tiny tube from a bag that hung by the bed. Her eyes went to the other direction and looked at her backpack on the floor on the other side of the bed. They must've been able to go back to Pokitaru and gather up their things. Femka finally let her eyes return to view her body. She felt like she was somewhat propped up. She tried to wriggle her toes but she could feel the struggle to wake her body up build up. Her eyes shut tight until finally a flinch. She let out a small gasp and turned her head to see the room completely now. Her exposed feet curled their toes up once or twice just to get the feel. She sniffled her nose feeling much better than how she did before. Her sickness went away in the time she was asleep. That thought crossed her mind as well.

"_How long have I been asleep?"_

She scratched her eyes after a small yawn left her mouth. Her arms felt heavier than usual. Oh, she must've been out for awhile. Femka diverted her attention to the door that was open. She could hear movement on the outside in hallway. She watched the shadow grow closer until it entered the room. Ratchet ambled through the threshold carrying something in his hands that was similar the intravenous by the bed. He didn't that Femka was awake until he was closer to the bed. He hurried over with surprise but a smile on his face. Femka was just as happy to see him, if not more. She lifted up her arms to invite him to her small embrace. He gladly accepted gripping around her gently putting the items he had with him on the table next to the bed. After a moment his head lifted and his hand rested on her shoulder.

"Nice to see you finally awake."

"How long this time?" she grinned small.

"Over a week," he said after chuckling through his teeth. "We took you to a hospital when we came back here but there wasn't anything seriously wrong with you—you were just tired. So, Clank and I've been keeping an eye on you from home."

"That would explain all the equipment and my gown, and also the lack of strength." Her hand flexed and a sigh traveled out of her nose.

"You're more high-maintenance than my ship," he teased taking his hand away from her and replacing the bag on her IV with the new one he brought. "But I'm relieved you're alright."

"So am I."

Her eyes followed him as he finished his chore and sat down next to the bed on a stool. His ear flinched as a different expression formed on his face. He looked like he recalled something.

"I just remembered. You kept trying to tell me something back on Ipsin's ship. You said it was important. It's not too late is it?"

Femka blinked confusedly for a moment and tried to call to mind what he was speaking of. Her eyebrows lifted when she was able to remember.

"No, it's not too late…" Her face began to turn a light shade of red. "But…" She was silent for a second looking at her hands as the cupped together.

"But?"

"I've… I've been thinking a lot. About someone. And when I thought my life was flashing before my eyes I could tell you about it then." Femka stopped and sighed annoyed. "But… I can't tell you. Not right now. I'd like to be more… Can I tell you later?" She glanced over to him.

"Sure, you can tell me whenever you're ready to. But, is there anything you need until then?"

"I really need to go to the bathroom."

"That's probably a good place to start. Let me see your arm for a minute."

Femka extended her arm out to him and Ratchet took out the small needle that was under her skin. She winced at the pinch but it quickly went away. Her caretaker helped her out of bed slowly. When her feet touched the cold ground she wobbled for a moment and used Ratchet as a means of balancing herself properly. Her legs were weak but eventually were able to prop and support her body. She smiled at her friend for all the care he's been giving her and she slowly but surely made her way to the bathroom not too far from the room. She had been through Hell up until this point. It had been two weeks since she was on Pokitaru and that meant she had gone that long without bathing. The mere thought of not showering for such a long time made Femka shudder and cringe. She was resting in her own filth for more than seven days and it bothered the woman to no end. Femka was always a bit of a hygienic freak. As soon as she stepped inside the bathroom she undressed and took off her gown and necklace. After living in Ratchet and Clank's home for so long she was familiar with everything that surrounded her. She accepted it as her second home. For all she knew, it may be permanent. Femka let the hot water spill on her face. It felt good. She stood there for a while letting it wash her tiredness away—along with the disgust she felt all over her skin. She scrubbed the filth off of her and cleaned her hair. When she finished her showering rituals the relieved woman emerged from the bathroom with her things and a towel wrapped around her proceeding to the bedroom to change into something fresh and clean. She stood before the window as she put on her clothes and opened the shutter fully. Her eyes watched the sun behind all the buildings as it rose off the horizon. Her wet hair hung over her shoulders and down her back. She let out a small chuckle when her eyes squinted. She remembered her glasses were gone again. No surprise there. Femka stood there for a moment just thinking. She wondered if Ipsin was really gone or not and then not to mention her methods of getting home still didn't even exist.

"_What now?"_ she thought. _"Do I just live out my life here and forget about getting home? I can't just do that. Clank said before that in theory I could get home the same way I got here."_ She shook her head. _"And that's the part that's basically impossible. I mean, my solar system may be in this universe, but where? And if it's not, how do we make something happen like it did to get me here and how can we make it take me to the right place?"_

She remembered the stories that the two told her. The Dimensionator came to mind but it was long gone. Something like that would be pretty helpful, unfortunately like her method of home travel, it didn't exist either. Femka sighed deeply feeling like she hit a dead end.

"There's got to be some way. I'm determined. I can figure this out."

She watched the sun rise up further a little longer and left the room thinking it best to eat something. For the past week and a half she'd been getting nutrients through a small tube. Her tongue and stomach were craving something solid by now. The light from outside was beginning to brightly fill up each room of the garage—it was refreshing to see this place again. Femka let her feet take her to the kitchen. She was getting the hang off all the button work that turned the lights or other things on. Her finger flipped a switch to light up the area better and she dug around for something to eat and drink. Her eyes caught the blurry clock on the wall that read 6:48. It was pretty early but she slept so long it didn't quite feel like it to her. The girl mustered up a light meal to start her off ate away at it quickly guzzling down whatever she had gotten to drink. She was tempted to watch something on television but she recalled her comm-link was missing. She had Ratchet's before but after she fell unconscious she only assumed that he had it back again by now. Speaking of which, she knew it was almost seven in the morning, but she wondered where the mechanic went. Was he already at work? Femka left the kitchen not before putting her dirtied dishes into the sink and roamed about the garage—it helped with her leg muscles anyway. Femka was accurate about her assumption. When she peaked into the hanger, the duo was working on some ship. They were quite the early birds—at least compared to her. Femka seemed to enjoy sleeping in late. Before she let her presence be known, she left the area and went back to Ratchet's room. She found her sketchbook in her backpack and pulled it out to sift through her drawings in it. She managed to draw quite a lot so far that she was running out of pages. Nevertheless, she took her things and went back to the hanger sitting on one of the metal steps and began to draw what she saw. Femka wasn't too particular with drawing things like backgrounds and objects; she was more into drawing busts or people or cartoons, but she wanted to try something different anyway. The two noticed her sitting there some time later but didn't disturb her—she was in the moment. She wanted to draw the scenery and the two at work. Drawing a ship was turning out harder than she thought it would be. Femka's face scrunched together when she held her notebook out in front of her to critique her work.

"No." Her head shook disapprovingly.

She gave up on the picture and turned the page to start something else unrelated until her creative juices ran dry. Her fingers lifted up several pages of her sketchbook until she was looking back at some drawings before she came to Igliak. Some of the drawings were just silly—she liked those the best. Most of them were characters he made up for stories she had in her head or for role playing, something she did a little too much back home. She looked out to the two having a thought shatter her flight of imagination and stood up from her spot on the stairs motioning towards the men at work.

"Greetings, Miss Femka," the small robot welcomed. "It is good to see you awake."

"It's good to be awake," the woman smiled holding her sketchbook. "I was wondering, could I talk to you about something?"

"Certainly."

Femka looked at Clank and then to Ratchet who appeared to have his body half way inside the side of the ship he was doing maintenance on and then back to Clank again.

"It's about Reiggel galaxy."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was curious. Since Ipsin said he knew everything about Nerotrium, or at least claimed he did, do you think someone else in Reiggel would know about it well enough?"

"I am certain that there would be more than a few who understand its element. But why do you ask?" The shutters of his eyes spun and blinked.

"Okay. I think if I could find the right person and tell them about what happened to me, maybe they can help me get home don't you think?" She seemed optimistic.

"It is possible. But I know nothing of their galaxy or its people; I am sure the same goes for Ratchet. We are only familiar with Ipsin's species and we do not know what he even was, or what planet he came from."

"Maybe someone at the museum knows?"

"Hmm…" The little bot broodingly tapped his chin. "Then we shall inquire within."

"Great!" she wriggled in her spot with excitement. "Can we go now?"

"Miss Femka, I do not believe that the museum is even opened yet."

"But it could be opened by the time we get there."

"Your eagerness is reminiscent of someone I know…" Clank glanced back at his friend.

"So, then that's a yes?" Her smile remained ever bright.

"I will be waiting out front when you are ready."

Femka smiled happily holding her drawing pad up to her chest making a small squeak of delight and ran back inside. Ratchet took his head out of the compartment of the ship he'd been working on in time to see Femka's happy expression and giddily run back into the building.

"What's she so excited about?" he asked Clank taking off his gloves.

"We are going to the museum."

"Don't you think she's overreacting?" he perked a brow.

"It is not the museum she is excited to see. She would like to ask about Doctor Ipsin so she can find what his species is and where he is from. Miss Femka hopes to gain this knowledge so that she may visit his planet and potentially find a way home. She believes that there may be another who understands this Neroltrium and that they could possibly aid her if she explains her quandary."

"I guess that could work. Actually…" The Lombax pondered. "It's too bad Ipsin's _friends_ were just as crazy as he was, otherwise I'd say ask them." His head shook.

"Either way, I am sure we will figure something out."

Clank began to exit the hanger to meet Femka out front. She was already prepared to go. She still only wished she had her glasses, those made her life much easier. Right now, however, she was focused on finding a way home. When she noticed Clank coming she put on her eager face and stood up straight raring to go. The small robot arrived at her side and they began their walk. Femka would have to rely on Clank's comm-link for language interpretation when it came time to speak with someone. The universe was a scarier place when you couldn't understand anyone. When they arrived at the great building the doors were closed. The opening hours still hadn't commenced, they had least ten more minutes. Until then, Femka sat herself firmly on the stoop of the museum and waited. A Markazian was approaching the building noticing the two sitting there. A strange look was on the woman's face. She didn't think people were this anxious to visit a place like this so early. Femka's eyes lit up when she noticed the woman casually ascending up the stairs.

"Oh, Miss!" she jumped up dragging Clank with her. "I have a question, please."

"Hm?" She turned around.

"Hi, um… I need some information about a former employee."

"Oh, I'm sorry but it's against regulations here to release personal information about our staff."

"Even if they quit?" she said with a quirky smile.

"Afraid so."

"Darn…" Femka sighed. "Thanks anyway…"

The two watched as the woman entered the museum and Femka sat back down on one of the steps with a heavy sigh.

"I am sure we will be able to obtain the information somehow," Clank said in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Yeah, but _how_?"

Femka sighed putting her chin on her palms and stared out to the city in front of her. Two men caught her attention as they started walking towards the museum entrance. They looked eerily familiar. Her eyes squinted to try and gain focus and then suddenly her eyes went wide.

"Clank!" she whispered. "Those guys! It's the two guys who attacked me in that alley." She stood up hastily. "I can't believe they have the nerve…"

"It would be best to stay away from them, Miss Femka."

"No way. I bet they know everything if they were in cahoots with that lunatic." Femka left her spot and started towards the two men. "Hey!" she yelled out and the two looked. "Yeah, you!"

Both men stopped in their tracks after recognizing the woman. Her hair first gave away her identity.

"Don't you move! I need to pick a bone with you two!"

"Wait, wait! If it's about that thing that happened in the alley, it wasn't our idea! Ipsin set us up to it and we weren't really gonna kill anyone!" one answered waving his hands in a panic.

"Yeah?" Femka scowled standing in front of the two aliens who were far taller than she was. "After all the stuff I've been through in the past month or so I don't think your excuses will get you out of harm's way. I need some information and if you don't give it to me I will beat the ever-loving-shit out of you."

The two stared at the short-fused woman before them and remembered what she did that night.

"Alright! Calm down! What do you need to know?" one said in fright.

"I need to know what species you are, where you came from and if there's anyone on your planet that knows about Neroltrium like Ipsin did. Talk."

"We come from the Reiggel galaxy from planet Sepria," the other answered. "We're called Remiliens. There was one guy that Ipsin always talked about—a mentor, I guess—who was teaching him about the Neroltrium. His name was Haden Marlow but because Neroltrium is illegal where we come from he was banished. We have no idea where to, though. Honest!"

"He is telling the truth," Clank said joining Femka's side.

"He'd better be…" She gave the man her stink eye.

"I am. But that's all we know. Marlow was banished years ago, about the same time that Ipsin was. He was a Remilien, too, but, word to the wise: if you do actually intend on going to Sepria, you'll find it to be very dangerous to talk about him or even difficult to talk period."

"Yeah, good luck," the other Remilien shrugged.

"Luck or not, I need to find him. Well, gentlemen, I appreciate your cooperation. I must bit thee farewell."

The two researchers stared at each other for a moment as Femka ran off on her way with the small robot that accompanied her.

"What is she up to?"

"You know what? I don't care anymore. I'm done with being curious. I'll stick to what I know."

"Isn't that kind of contradictory to our profession?"

"You know what I mean…"

The two men walked inside the museum to carry on with their life, while Femka and Clank, meanwhile, were headed back to the garage. Femka was more excited than earlier. She finally had some lead. All she needed to do was locate this Haden Marlow and interrogate him.

"_No, not interrogate, ask questions, interview… He has to know something about dimensional-traveling via Neroltrium. If he doesn't, then maybe my story will jog his mind."_

Femka continued her solitary, mental conversation until she arrived with Clank to the garage. She entered through the hanger running inside to find the mechanic to tell him the partially good news. She found him inside the main building about to leave almost running into him and causing a small startle between the two.

"Guess what?" Femka spoke with her eyes wide.

"…What?" the Lombax gave back the same expression.

"I think I potentially know how I can get home, or at least the way to helping me get home."

"Uh huh…"

"I talked to some guys and found out what Ipsin's species was—Remilien—and then I found out where he came from—planet Sepria—and a guy who could help me—Haden Marlow. But…"

"But?"

"I don't know where this Haden Marlow guy is." Femka's shoulders sank.

"How did you even get this information in the first place? And how do you know that this guy can even help you?"

"Well, I don't really know. And I got the information from the two guys who were with Ipsin that night in the alley…"

Femka's eyes bashfully looked away as she could feel Ratchet's judgmental stare.

"You know they could be lying to you."

"No, they weren't. Clank said they were telling the truth. And I believe it."

"Indeed, that is what I said," Clank replied walking past the two.

"Well, then what's your call?" the Lombax asked folding his arms.

"I want to go Reiggel and look for Haden Marlow starting on planet Sepria."

A small pause of silence lasted between them for a moment and Ratchet's eyes focused onto Femka as he sighed with a tilt of his head and smiled small for the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay, we'll go. But first I need to give you something before we work out the details."

He motioned with his finger for Femka to follow him. She did so wondering what he needed to give her. They entered another room that seemed to be full of computers and other assorted things—and especially junk. Ratchet grabbed some things off of a table and turned around to Femka presenting them to her.

"This is your new comm-link. Don't lose it." He took her hands and pressed it between them with his over top of them. "If you have to glue it to your hip, then do it. And…," his voice delayed handing her another item. "These are a new pair of glasses for you. If you have to staple these to your forehead, then do it. Next round's on you."

Femka smiled but looked down out of embarrassment putting her glasses on her face and securing her communicator to the belt she wore.

"Thank you…" Femka's voice was small.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured. "I'm pretty sure most of the things that happened to you were circumstantial anyway."

"Mm, story of my life." She shrugged and fiddled with a strand of her hair. "So…"

"Keep your shirt on, we'll go in a couple days. I've still got a few things to do around here."

"Sorry. I'm just excited." She laughed nervously.

"It's alright. I think I'd be too in your case," he smiled kindheartedly. "I need to get back to repairing that ship in the hanger. Stay out of trouble, Fem," he said patting her shoulder on his way out.

"I'll try."

Femka's head followed Ratchet until he was gone and she looked at the stone around her neck and fiddled with the gem looped onto it.

"To think I was happy to have this thing just because it looked pretty. If I didn't need you I'd chuck you out a window." Her eyes glared at the inanimate object as it glowed slightly with her dramatic stare.

Besides Femka talking to herself, the woman figured she'd spend her free time (until the _fun_ began) relaxing and catching up on her independent studies of the Kyzilian language. Last time Femka had her lesson she was sure she was coming to a breakthrough. Why not continue? That's what she thought to herself after leaving the tech room and going to her usual spot in the living room and soon she picked up right where she left off. After about an hour of studying Femka looked at her papers and books and smiled crooked with a small sigh that came through her nose.

"_It's silly of me to think like this,"_ she thought,_ "but when I get home none of what I learned here will matter. I'm doing this for no real reason other than fun I guess. And when I'm home I won't see them again. It's really… upsetting me…"_

The translator put down her writing utensil and folded her arms on the table placing her chin on top of them.

"_But I'm so homesick it hurts. And at the same time I'm not… This place feels like home, too."_


	12. A New Challenge Ahead

**Chapter Eleven**

Femka stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom much like she would do in the morning to judge her appearance and just daydream. She was already dressed and ready to go. She kept her hair tied up behind her tightly in a bun and her outfit fit firmly against her body. She placed her necklace around her and put her glasses on. She had everything she needed in Ratchet's room and took her backpack with whatever supplies she felt that she should bring. It was ten o'clock in the morning and the duo was back in the garage performing the same routine, getting the ship tuned up and packing supplies. Femka joined them with her determined, yet anxious, spirit. Clank greeted her like he always did while the mechanic dealt with the finishing touches. Femka had a smile as she walked to the ship with the little robot.

"Are you ready, Miss Femka?" he asked.

"I think so." She shifted the weight of her backpack over her shoulder and stood firm.

While Ratchet worked on the last detail of the ship Femka entered the vessel and sat on the side seat behind Ratchet and Clank's usual spot and sorted through her things in her backpack waiting for the two to enter as well.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Ratchet said going through the side door of the ship and hopping onto his seat, Clank following after.

Femka sat in the seat behind the two and buckled herself in. She was excited and extremely nervous at the same time. The ship engaged and hovered further off of the ground as the hanger door opened slowly. Surely enough, the ship was on its way off of the planet and through the atmosphere into dark space ahead. Fortunately, the coordinates that they copied from Ipsin's old vessel were still in the ship's database. They had direction, a place to start but little information to follow on—better than nothing.

"Our flight should take us no more than… hmm… seventeen hours," Clank deduced.

Ratchet groaned.

"This thing's going on auto-pilot sometime during the duration of this trip."

Femka braced herself for a boring ride. There wasn't much to do on this small ship. There was a cramped room to sleep in, a lavatory, another small room Femka wasn't sure was and the chamber up front. She brought her drawing book and her materials for the language she'd been studying but that wasn't about to help pass seventeen hours, which is why Femka was glad there was a place to sleep on this ship.

Thirteen hours had passed and the ship was well already on auto-pilot and the three lounged about the cabin getting whatever holo-vision signal they could on the monitor. It wasn't much longer after that that Femka left the two to go to bed for the reaming four hours of their journey. She lain down on her side and pushed her arms underneath the pillow on the bed.

"_Almost there. I hope we can find this guy. Those Remiliens did say that they weren't going to make this easy."_ Femka's eyes closed.

Her eyes opened again after what felt like only seconds of sleep. She could hear Ratchet calling out to her and she groggily left the bed rubbing her eyes under her glasses and entered the front section of the ship. She could see a red planet in front of them.

"Is that Sepria?" she said sitting down in her seat.

"Yep, that's the place."

There were ships flying about as well and other space stations outside orbiting the planet. It was rather large but then again it was up close already. They would have a lot of ground to cover, though time wasn't exactly an object of matter, it was still important to Femka that she locate this Arlis character. The woman's fingers gripped at her chair when the ship began descend through the atmosphere, something she wouldn't be able to get used to. They broke through several layers of clouds to see the scenery below them. From up high it seemed like the planet was sparsely populated, having dense cities that were built far from each other. Between all of their population was desert and arid land and the rare river or body of water. Ratchet lowered the ship to a city by means of his own judgment. The ship landed on dock in the middle of the metropolis eventually as Clank then proceeded to push a few buttons on the computer consol.

"Downloading central map to navigational unit."

"Where are we going to start first?" Femka asked putting her head between the two seats in front of her.

"Anywhere. Someone's bound to know," Ratchet replied unstrapping his seatbelt.

She watched him hop off of the seat as she followed after the two to the door of the ship. Upon getting a ground view of the city around them, Femka only thought it looked the same to here as Meridian did. Everything was just as advanced and certainly just as overwhelming. Another thing she noticed was the intense heat. The sky was overcast but god was it hot. She didn't want to find out what it would be like when the sun came out. For the meanwhile, she just stood close to the two; by now Clank was on Ratchet's back and the Lombax was scouting the city before him for potential Remiliens to interrogate. It was just to get people's attention—they all apparently had some place to be, that or they were simply just rude aliens. Ratchet tried to get their attention the polite way until about ten minutes passed and he was feeling frustrated.

"Do they think I'm trying to sell them something? I just need to ask a question!"

"Those two guys did tell me that it'd be difficult to talk to the Remiliens," Femka added rubbing her arm.

"Yeah, well, it's really annoying. Not even the infobots are pleasant."

"Maybe we should try a different approach?"

"Ah, yes," Clank spoke, "as in going someplace that is more environmentally social."

"Is that possible here?" Ratchet rolled his eyes.

"I bet we could get some answers in a bar or maybe a café." Femka shrugged her shoulders.

The mechanic sighed.

"It's better than just standing here and getting rejected by every pedestrian. Let's go."

Femka followed close behind Ratchet as they searched for a pub or something of the sort. Their language, naturally, was different and the signs that were placed above any store or building were illegible—but that's what electronic maps were for. The three traversed the city for a while until they were able to locate some bar that bordered the desert ahead. The trio entered the building which had dim lights, something typical for a place of its kind. There were more than just Remiliens sitting around, which was good for them, considering the species was exceptionally arrogant—so they've witnessed. Femka glanced about the room with her eyes trying to find the most approachable specimen. It didn't seem like a tough-guy joint but the translator wasn't good at initiating conversations about such a topic with weird creatures. She barely was used to all the alien species she saw on Igliak! She kept close to Ratchet and Clank as he motioned towards the bartender who looked like a familiar species to Femka. Ratchet's ears went up with a twitch of his tail resting his upper body against the counter.

"So. A Terachnoid working at a bar, on Sepria, in Reiggel?" his brow rose.

"Judge me all you want Lombax," the alien began with a lift of his glasses, "but I have to make ends meet somehow."

"Why don't you just fix computers? Your kind are renowned for being nerdy."

"But this place has so many benefits. I don't have talk anyone I don't want to. It was aggravating working at Pollyx, always dealing with the same people who knew nothing about the simplest electronic device. I couldn't take it anymore."

"Then why a bar? Here of all places?"

"It's like I said, I don't have to engage myself in monotonous conversation or give direction over and over again. The people that come in here only want to wind down and drink. I can respect that. If I remained at Pollyx any longer I would've become an alcoholic, too." His head slowly shook as he wiped a glass clean with a small cloth. "As for reason of traveling this far, it was kind of coincidental. But it worked out anyway. Besides, the dry air is better for my asthma."

"Oh, I have asthma, too." Femka joined in peeking over Ratchet's shoulder with a small smile and raise of her brows.

The pink-toned alien sighed longingly after seeing Femka.

"And that's another perk. You can meet beautiful women like the one who stands next to you. "

"Aren't drunken women usually just desperate?"

The Terachnoid sighed.

"Of course, with pros come cons…"

"I don't drink," Femka added with a sneer and looked at the depressed bartender deciding to change the subject. "Can I ask you a question?"

"As long as it has nothing to do with a computer…"

"No. It doesn't."

"Then please."

"Well, you seem like a nice, modest individual. Would you happen to know about a Arlis Marlow?"

"Arlis Marlow?" the Terachnoid gulped looking around the room. Some of the customers were looking their way. "We don't really talk about him here," he whispered.

"But I really need information about him."

"I'm sorry I can't help you. This place is very strict on that sort of intell. And I don't want to be a part of it."

"He can't be worse than Ipsin." Her shoulders shrugged.

"We don't talk about him either!" his arms flailed.

"Well, who does then?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything!" the alien said hiding underneath the countertop.

"Not even if I… went on a date with you?"

"No! I still wouldn't know anything!" he cried from underneath the counter. "Although, I would take you up on your offer nonetheless."

"C'mon, Fem," Ratchet sighed with a shake of his head and grabbed her hand leading her out of the bar with him. "There's no need to be desperate while you're sober. Terachnoids are too cowardice anyway. We'll just go somewhere else."

"Hey," a voice called out to them as they walked by several tables to the exit.

The mechanic turned his head to seek out the voice.

"Over there," Clank pointed.

There was a figure sitting alone at a table in the back of the bar. The person motioned for the three to come closer. When they approached the shadowed figure was in disguise, a black mask covered their face and the rest of their head; their body was covered by some robe or old style of clothing. It reminded Femka of someone from the feudal era of Japan or something.

"Take a seat," the voice insisted. It seemed distorted, like it was being disguised by a modulator.

The three took their own chairs each and sat down staring at the strange person across from them.

"So, I heard you're looking for a specific Remilien, huh? I can help you."

"Oh, yeah? And why trust a stranger?" Ratchet questioned.

"Nobody else is going to help you. As far as I can see you don't know anything about this place, so who else is there?"

"Alright, then if you're gonna help us what's the catch?"

The stranger smirked under their mask.

"I'll tell you later. We can't talk business here. Meet me at the Volkera Plaza tonight at zero hour, and then we'll discuss our matters there."

Before saying anything more, the stranger stood up and left the bar leaving the three to look curiously at one another.

"That was interesting," Ratchet noted standing up a moment later.

"Indeed. I wonder what makes him, or her, so willing to help a group of strangers," the little robot pondered.

"We'll just be cautious anyway when we meet up with… him or her. Depending on what they ask for in return'll depend on whether we can actually get the information or not." Ratchet looked at Femka. "I want you to get home, too, but I want you to get home safely."

"I know," she smiled standing up next.

The mechanic returned the smile and let his friend link onto his back once again.

"Let's get something to eat and go back to the ship until we have to meet up with what's-its-face."

The bar was far behind them as they looked for a decent place to chow down on something. Femka was starving and so was Ratchet, and well, Clank didn't eat. In a matter of time they discovered a decent food outlet that served things that weren't too unusual for their taste. Regardless, it would be new to the both of them. Femka tried to order something that reminded her of the food she barely was used to on Igliak and Ratchet went out of his way to try something that looked utterly abnormal. The two went to town while Clank looked up the directions to Volkera Plaza on his navigational device. It looked like it was across town from where they were.

"What is that?" Femka asked pointing to Ratchet's food.

"I have no idea."

"Is it good?"

"Try for yourself," he grinned pushing his plate closer to her.

Femka was hesitant at the face he was making and she took a piece of food off of his dish with her fork and put it in her mouth. It tasted weird. It was meat, but it was weird. It was spicy too and after a moment of chewing it just became awkward. She took a napkin and spat the piece of food into it while hearing Ratchet laugh at her. Her face was scrunched with her chin pushed in her neck.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too, but I already made a commitment," Ratchet shrugged still chuckling and continued eating. "What about your food? Is it any good?"

"It's interesting." She prodded at it with her fork. "Better than what you're eating if you ask me." She took a bite of her food to get rid of the aftertaste that lingered on her tongue.

The Lombax just smiled at her and begrudgingly finished off the rest of his food. Actually, the taste was okay by the last few bites. Maybe it took some getting used to, an acquired taste. Ratchet's eyes glanced over to Clank who sat beside him and watched what the little robot was up to. He was typing on a holo-display computer trying to gather information about the planet—to pass time and to educate himself.

"So," Ratchet said looking at Femka after a moment of quiet, "when you get home, what's the first thing you're going to do?"

Femka paused and thought.

"I don't know. I think first I'll have to find my mom. She's the first person I want to hug." She sighed with a small smile looking down at her food. "And then my friend Alexander. I miss him a lot, too. But I think it'll be hard to say goodbye here…"

Femka stared down at her food. She still couldn't fathom the immense feelings she harbored. She never thought something like this would so upsetting. She's had to say goodbye to many things in her life and she was never any good at it. She could feel her eyes swelling, so her head didn't budge. The two across the table from her have been wonderful friends in the short time she spent with them and letting someone so important go would be the hardest thing anyone could ever do. Femka didn't mean to be so quiet but she was lost in thought again and Ratchet began to reconsider his choice of a question. Femka sniffled with a rub of her hand against her nose and she looked up at her concerned friend and smiled a bit feeling embarrassed for the awkward moment.

"Sorry," she laughed lightly. "I just kind of got lost for a minute."

"I noticed." His ears perked. "Are you ready to head back to the ship?"

Femka nodded and left her seat as the two others did the same. The walk back was quiet but it didn't take too long. Femka just thought the whole time and stared off into nothingness occasionally making a small sigh or sniffle through her nose from congestion. When they got to the ship the first thing she wanted to do was sleep or take a nap. Femka could feel her eyes weighing down. While the bed on board wasn't the most comfortable at least it was a bed. Her feet carried her on the ship slowly and her body fell onto the bed. She closed her eyes and listened with her ears the sounds that Clank and Ratchet were making when they entered the vessel. Her body rolled to face the wall and her eyes opened to see her tired reflection on the metal surface. The door to the room opened and the mechanic stepped in.

"Alright, move over."

"Hm?" Femka looked over her shoulder.

"I'm a little tired, if not more than you, since I had to stay awake seventeen hours for the duration of the trip and then six hours before that, so I'm a little sleepy. And as much as I like sleeping on couches the chairs in this ship aren't that comfortable."

Femka scooted to the middle of the bed with a leer and sprawled her arms and legs over it covering most of the surface as she lay on her back.

"Oh, you're playing this game, huh?"

Ratchet moved over to the bed and took a hold of one of her hands to drag her near him but she of course resisted and hung onto the bed and threw a pillow at his face when he let her go. She sat up on the bed with the other remaining pillow ready to fight him for the turf. He looked at her with a dramatic, appalled expression, since she brought weaponry into the situation; but she left a part of the bed open and he quickly took to the opportunity crawling onto the flat surface. She watched him crawl closer towards her with his tail slowly swaying after him. For some reason it overwhelmed her causing her to hide behind the pillow with a blushing face.

"Why are you hiding? You're the one who started this."

His hand motioned to pull the pillow away from her face that was only now being covered by her hands.

"I thought you'd at least hit me with it again."

And she did. Femka stuffed the pillow to his face, because of how close he was to her. But she couldn't help but laugh after seeing his ears rise up when the fluffy material hit his face.

"Thanks…," he said with a muffled voice taking away the pillow and sitting up across from her. "Okay, now move over."

Ratchet tossed the pillow back at her and she placed it on the bed while he retrieved the other pillow for himself. Femka lain down to face the wall again but gave Ratchet enough room as well this time. She took off her glasses that became smudged from being pressed against her face when behind the pillow and she folded them placing the eyewear on a shelf above her in the wall. She still felt silly for blushing at something like what happened moments ago but there was no helping it. She calmed herself after a minute and closed her eyes.

"Ratchet…," she said quietly, "is your tail wagging?"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry. It's involuntary… sometimes…"

She smiled and chuckled through her teeth when it stopped brushing against her backside.

"Ratchet…," she said quietly once again after another pause.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna miss you…"

"I'll miss you, too."

She smiled lightly still and opened her eyes again to stare at her distorted reflection. It made her heart flutter.

"Really?"

"Of course I will," he said with a tired smile.

Hearing that help put some of Femka's worries at ease for the time being. Her eyes closed again letting her heart slow down. Her thoughts scattered until she was finally asleep and so was he.

• • •

Femka felt a push against her shoulder and her eyes opened hearing a voice calling her. She grumbled and squinted at Ratchet who'd been trying to wake her up for a few minutes.

"Are you awake yet? It's time to go."

"Huh?" she yawned with her eyes still out of focus.

"C'mon sleeping beauty."

Ratchet rolled the woman over and lifted her body up by pulling her arms towards him. Femka eventually woke up rubbing her eyes and throwing her legs over the edge of the bed. The glasses that she wore earlier went on her face until she remembered they were smudged and she proceeded to wipe them clean with her shirt. She took a hold of Ratchet's hand after he offered it to help her get up.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said with a stretch.

"Good. Clank already has the coordinates to that plaza, so we'll just take the ship."

The mechanic left the small room and headed to his seat next to his partner. Femka came in shortly after and sat in her seat behind them. The ship lifted off and flew for only a few minutes and Femka could see out of the window the plaza beneath them. It was a huge place but it was completely deserted. The buildings around the circle were stores of some sort and in the center was a gigantic fountain, but not a single soul in sight. It was kind of creepy. Despite the eerie feeling, the mechanic landed the vessel out of the plaza's circle, just a few feet before it. Femka unfastened her belt and stared out into the darkness around her with her head just slightly poking out of the ship's side door.

"Where is he… she?" Femka asked stepping out of the ship.

"Over there, it would appear," Clank noted the figure standing by the fountain.

"Let's go," Ratchet said walking in front toward the mysterious stranger.

Clank hopped onto Ratchet's back as Femka followed closely behind. The stranger watched them advance and smiled underneath the mask he/she wore.

"Glad you could make it."

"Interesting choice of location," the Lombax said looking around. "So, what's the deal?"

"Right to business. I admire that. Well, I told you I would help you locate Arlis Marlow but first tell me, why do you need to find him? Nobody ever talks about him; as a matter of fact, most people here pretend he didn't exist."

"We have predicament. My associate here needs to get back home and we think Arlis can help her." Ratchet explained. "She's not from anywhere you would know. Actually, we don't think her home is even on this universal plane."

"My necklace was the reason I was _spirited away_."

She held out the jewel to the stranger as it glowed brightly.

"That's Neroltrium… Hmm." The stranger thought before talking again. "So, you think Marlow can tell you what you must do then? Hm. Interesting. While you're here, I'd suggest you keep that thing out of sight. I'm surprised no one's noticed it yet."

Femka placed the necklace in her shirt and looked back at the masked stranger.

"Why is it that Mister Marlow is treated as though he never lived?" Clank asked curiously.

"Because of his association with Doctor Ipsin Ro and Sergua the Oppressor. He was the one who continued research on the material. After Sergua's failed attempt on galactic domination, most people here were ashamed that they were Remilien and wanted nothing to do with the history—Neroltrium included. As far as Remiliens knew, the stuff was just unnatural and only brought trouble. But Marlow still wanted to learn about it. He adopted a pupil and taught him everything he knew. It was someone who he could share his interests with. But Ro was an unstable mind and he delved deeper into the material's dangerous side. Needless to say, our government found out what he was doing and exiled him off of the planet. They banished Marlow soon after."

"Do you know where he is?" Ratchet questioned with his ears alert.

"I do, sort of. I'm also sure Marlow could help you. But second, I need a favor from you."

"I'm listening."

"There's a friend of mine who knows where Marlow is, exactly where he is. Unfortunately…" The three waited in anticipation. There was always an _unfortunate_ part somewhere in the story. "…he's in jail."

"And you want us to break him out?" Ratchet perked a brow.

"That's the idea. But that's my only favor I have to ask of you. I can't break him out myself."

"Can I ask _why_ he's in jail?" 

"It's personal." The mysterious stranger stopped and listened in to the sounds around him/her. There were footsteps echoing around the buildings near them. Someone was coming. "So is it a deal or not?" the masked person said quickly.

"Ratchet, we must take into account the penalties and consequences of your choice should you accept his or her offer," Clank headed.

"I know, I know."

The Lombax glanced to Femka with a sympathetic look and her heart sank at his expression. He wanted to help her return home and she saw that.

"Ratchet, you don't have to do something like that for me." She frowned.

"What, were you gonna do it yourself?" He smiled lightly turning back to the figure behind the mask. "It's a deal."

"Good. I want to rendezvous with you the same time that you met me today, tomorrow back at the pub where we first met. Bring your ship. I have to go for now. You should probably get going, too."

The stranger turned their head toward the footsteps that grew louder and started off in the other direction. Ratchet watched for a moment and turned to Femka nodding his head for her to follow him back to the ship. The two hurried on their feet and went into the small vessel. Clank let himself off of Ratchet's back and went to his seat. Femka sat down on the side seat in the back as the mechanic took his place at the controls. She felt guilty, for no valid reason, too. Her eyes stared at the floor as the ship took off into the air. She watched out the window for a moment and saw that they were already landing after what seemed like only five minutes of flying.

"Where're we going?" she asked standing up from her seat.

"Well, that mysterious masked character said to meet back at the pub the same time we met him or her today, so I figured that's plenty of time to actually get some sleep in a place that's meant for sleep. Also something to eat."

"At past midnight?" Clank questioned leaving his chair as the side of the ship opened.

"Well, just a quick snack. I'm sure some place is opened. I mean, it is a city."

Femka followed the two out of the ship carrying her backpack over her shoulder. It was fairly late but where Ratchet picked to land seemed a bit lively still. It made her wonder what was with that plaza they were just at. It was a ghost town in that section of the city. Femka walked slowly behind them taking in all the Remilien aliens she was seeing. Still, there were some familiar faces walking about. And over head above the buildings she could see the galaxy and the planet's moon that hovered brightly above. By the time her head adjusted to glance forward she saw Ratchet and Clank walking to a building ahead of her and quickened her pace. It was a hotel—or so she assumed when she entered the building with them and inspected the foyer with her eyes. There was no desk clerk present but from the looks of it to get a room was done by some sort of machine near the front desk. Everything was automatic. To pick a room, all you needed to do was press some buttons on the computer and it would display rooms available, the types and the prices for the rooms and the duration of the stay. Femka watched the mechanic work the machine mumbling something while looking for a language that he could read. Ratchet made a breakthrough in due time figuring out how to operate the device and the code to their room was presented via receipt after he paid. The three entered an elevator shaft that would take them to their floor. Femka day dreamt the whole ride up looking out the clear glass to the city outside. She had the sudden overwhelming feeling of heights for some reason when she stood close to the glass. Her feet shuffled toward the center of the lift still losing herself in her mind. She didn't realize the elevator stopped and that her company stepped out.

"Fem," Ratchet sang out.

"Oh!" The woman scurried out and chuckled a nervous laugh pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry."

"Still thinking about that someone?" he smiled looking back at her over his shoulder as he walked on to the room.

"Yes," she blushed faintly.

He only kept his smile turning his head back to look down the hallway and stop in front of a door just a few more feet ahead. Ratchet took out the receipt and punched in the numbers on the panel that was next to the door and the hexagonal gate opened seconds after. Femka entered after the two walked into the medium-sized room. There was a window that looked out to the neon-lit buildings in the city. The translator stared at the view for a moment before setting her things down next to one of the beds. Ah, yes. There were two beds this time. Not that sharing a bed wasn't enjoyable for either of them—Femka was small and Ratchet wasn't much bigger—but it would be nice to have a bed of their own, especially for Ratchet. Clank's comfort was accommodated easily regardless of where he slept (though he didn't necessarily need it). Ratchet plopped onto the other bed and sighed resting his arms behind his head and crossing his lower leg over the other. Femka walked toward the bathroom after digging through her bag for her pajamas. The girl was still sleepy and she planned on getting sleep for at least eight hours. She slipped into the bathroom and examined the area. Most of the things seemed similar to all the other bathrooms she's witnessed but still, it was a different planet. Something's were bound to be different. Femka scrutinized the shower and sighed longing to make herself feel clean. It seemed easy enough to work and within a moment her glasses, necklace and clothing were off and she hopped into the hot shower letting the water pour down on her. That always made her feel good. She stood there with her eyes closed and let it all soak in for a few minutes before she actually washed her body and hair.

"_That felt nice…"_

Femka pushed the water off of her face with her hands and turned the shower off taking a step out of the chamber and drying off with a nearby towel. She wrapped the towel around her body and quickly brushed her teeth before partially drying her hair with the damp wrap as well. Seeing her blue and purple colored hair in the mirror didn't bother her anymore—she accepted it a while ago—but it was still weird anyway. The woman dressed in her nightclothes and walked out of the steaming bathroom putting her hair up in a ponytail. She saw that the Lombax found something to eat and giggled at the strange face he was making while chewing the food. He couldn't figure out if it was good or not yet. Clank was sitting close to him on the bed as well reading the same book since last time on Jowai near the light that was on the nightstand. Femka sat on the bed and put her dirty clothes into her backpack and rested on her backside onto the bed. Her head turned to look at Ratchet who was inspecting an element on the food he was slowly chewing and put it in his mouth with one finger looking contemplative as he did so.

"How is it?" she smiled showing her teeth.

"Questionable… But…"

"But?"

"Better than that whatever-it-was that I ate earlier. These people have no taste in food."

"Is it sweet?" she asked rolling onto her stomach. "It looks like some kind of bread."

"It's something," he said raising his eyebrows and handing Femka the snack for her to try.

Femka reached out and took the object sniffing it first and took a small nibble. It did taste a little sweet. The texture was soft like bread and there were little bits of something within it. Actually, it didn't taste that bad. She handed it back to him with her arm stretched out and shrugged with a lift of her palms.

"I don't think it's so bad."

"Which leads me to question what your food tastes like back on your planet," he squinted an eye at her.

"Depends on where you go. Some food is good; some food is not so good."

Ratchet finished the rest of the stuff bed wanting to brush his teeth. Femka watched him walk into the bathroom and close the door behind him. The distinct sound of running water could be heard. Femka rolled on her side and looked out the window and her soft smile faded. She was already back in a daydream when Ratchet came from out of the bathroom feeling slightly more refreshed from brushing his teeth and losing a layer of clothing. The Lombax dove onto the bed after kicking off his shoes causing Clank to bounce up, though his eyes were still on his book. The small robot turned his head over to Femka who seemed like she was falling asleep (or already was asleep) and set his book down.

"Ratchet, I am turning off the light. Please do not snore this time."

"I don't snore," he argued lifting his face from the pillow he smothered himself in when he dove.

"And how would you know? You are asleep when you do it."

"Yeah, well, you still have insufficient proof."

"And I will prove you otherwise if I am ambitious," he said flicking off the light.

Ratchet shook his head before moving his head to the other direction and then running his body in the same way.

"Goodnight to you, too, Clank," he closed his eyes. "Goodnight Fem."

"Goodnight," Femka sighed out through a small yawn.

• • •

There sounds of moving objects that went about the room brought the young woman further out of her dreams and her eyes flickered open just a crack to see the sun coming into the room and her ears tuned into the faint sound of electricity that traveled from the holo-vision set that had been turned on. Femka reached tiredly over the bed and into her backpack with her hand to pull out her comm-link and brought the device to her face to see the time. It was past noon. Femka laid there for a moment with her head rested on its side against the comfortable pillow and stared out the window tuning into the sounds that were around her. Ratchet and Clank were already awake and moving about the room as well. Femka sat up eventually after smelling something good and scanned the room until she saw the two familiar faces. She saw Clank on the other bed flipping rapidly through the channels on the holo-vision set and Ratchet was in the little kitchen area of their hotel room making something.

"Good afternoon Miss Femka," Clank said. "Have you slept well?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded rubbing and wiping away the sleep from her eyes. "Anything interesting on holo-vision?"

"It is difficult to say. I am not sure I understand the Remilien sense of humor, though, however, I have found an interesting channel which speaks about this planet's history."

"Yeah, that's real exciting," Ratchet said from the other end of the room.

"Education is not for everyone."

Ratchet scowled turning his head back at Clank with a squint as Femka proceeded to laugh openly.

"The language that I translate between with English has a name for that that children like to use back in their country. They'd say you're _intelligent allergisch_, allergic to intellect."

"Just whose side are you own?"

"The side that wins." Femka smiled with her hair a mess and slid out of bed to inspect Ratchet's activity by the kitchen. "What're you making?" She leaned against the counter propping her head with hands under her chin and her elbows against the flat surface.

"Something that's actually edible. I tried eating breakfast earlier but I can't stomach the food here. It tastes awful. So I brought some food that I had stored on the ship and decided to make it, since this clearly qualifies as an emergency."

"Can I have some?" she looked up at him with her body hunched over the counter.

Ratchet gave her a dubious look with a risen brow to which the woman responded by fluttering her eyes and smiling in an attempt to act cute. She hoped that her looks would be enough to persuade him. Ratchet's ears went up at her expression and his eyes drifted down to catch a glimpse at her exposed cleavage easily shown from the loose shirt she wore. His nose turned more pink than what it already was and his tail swept as he handed her a plate putting the food onto it while cracking a nervous smile and quickly placing his eyes onto her face. Femka stood up straight taking the plate and looking at him with a funny smile and her head cocked to the side. She seemed to miss what he was looking at.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"What?"

She shook her head lightly but smiled anyway taking the food with her back to the bed, sitting down and eating it with her hands. It was definitely tastier than the food she had tried earlier on this planet. Femka could see the relief and delight on Ratchet's face when he took a bit of the food he made as he walked over to his bed. She smiled at him while eating a piece of the delicious morsel.

"Oh, thank god we don't have to be here much longer," the Lombax said with his mouth full.

"What're we gonna do until we have to go meet that person tonight?" Femka asked eating still and watching the holo-vision before her.

"I haven't got anything planned." Ratchet looked over to Clank. "What about you?"

"Well, I did see a few places that seemed rather interesting around here. This city seems very technologically successful and I was reading on some of the history yesterday while we were out. I was hoping to gain knowledge of their technological advancements."

"Nerd."

"It is better than sitting around all day," he said in rebuttal.

"Oh, I'll think of something to do," he said finishing up his food. "I'm just not gonna eat their food."

Ratchet stuck out his tongue and motioned off of the bed to take his dirtied utensils to the sink. Femka handed out her plate to him before he made it very far and he took it bringing it to the small area with him. Femka hopped off of her bed next and scampered to the bathroom taking her backpack with her. She knew she took a shower yesterday but there were other things she needed to do that she forgot to do last night. She closed the door behind her and set her bag on the toilet seat and dug around in it for a moment until she pulled out a small razor. She still wanted to up keep her hygiene and femininity, so something like this was a requirement. She undressed from her nightclothes and stood before the mirror nearly nude with the exception of her underpants and put the razor underneath some warm water from the faucet of the sink. She took a washcloth that hung from a small hook on the side of the mirror and dampened it as well soon grabbing some lotion that was by the shower and rubbing it on her legs. She took the razor from the bottom of sink and run it up and down her moistened leg and repeated the process until she did the same thing with the other leg, occasionally wetting the cloth again and smoothing out her legs with it. Femka tapped the shaver against the rim of the sink and continued her hygiene to her underarms. Doing this always made her feel somewhat unattractive as a human being. Regardless, she finished the job and took the razor from her underarms and tapped it again against the rim of sink and let it soak underneath the running water from the tap. The woman washed her face next and put some of the water over her hair to slick it back away from her face. A small dab of soap managed to slip in her eyes when she went to clean it off and she shut them tight from the small sting it brought. Her hand fumbled in the sink for the cloth but she instead grabbed a hold of the razor catching her finger on one of the blades. She bit her tongue in response to the sharp pain and cupped her finger within her other hand. Her face went under the falling water to get the soap out of her eyes and she lifted her hand to see the blood gushing from out of her finger. She grimaced sucking in air quickly through her teeth. Femka looked around the bathroom for any sign of a first aid kit or some band aids but found nothing. She squeezed her finger and held it above her head hoping that the blood would slow down eventually. It just poured out for a minute or two before Femka put some toilet paper around it to help. She stood there for a few minutes until her hand lowered and she inspected the open cut.

"Ow…," she said looking at the wound on her index finger. "Stupid thing."

She put her clothes on for the day after packing the other ones inside the bag, making sure not to touch anything with her cut finger. She left the bathroom noticing that it was void of life and that the holo-vision had been turned off. She squinted her eyes and glanced about the room slowly stepping out of the bathroom.

"Clank? Ratchet?"

"Ooh!"

Femka's eyes suddenly widened at the person that appeared in front of her with a gasp leaving her mouth. Ratchet was laughing in front of her as he was the person who leaped out to scare her. The woman narrowed her brows letting the Lombax finish his laugh.

"Sorry. I couldn't resist. You were in there for awhile and usually when people leave the bathroom after a long time they're completely unsuspecting of what's on the outside and normally Clank wouldn't even be in a bathroom, so it's not like I could do this to him. Plus, I actually have to use the toilet." He smiled tipping his head to her and brushed past Femka entering the bathroom with a swift shut of the door behind him.

She would've pulled his tail if she could've caught him in time but she just glared at the door and walked back to her bed still holding her finger. She looked at the long sliver that ran down her index finger and looked over at the end of the room when she saw the door open. Ratchet's ears motioned up and down noticing Femka was holding up her finger.

"What're you doing?" he asked walking over.

"I cut it while I was in the bathroom. It hurts." She showed him her injured finger.

He looked at it with a tilt of his head and took her hand to see the cut more closely. He let go of it and went to his clothes that were on the floor from yesterday and dug around for something until he found it. He brought out a small grey pouch and took out from it a smack tube of liquid and an equally small roll of white tape. Ratchet walked back over to where Femka was and sat next to her on the bed and held out his hand for her to rest in it. She gave him her hand and gently held it to begin applying whatever was in that tube onto her cut index finger. She felt him hold her hand before but it still gave her chills anyway. It was so warm and soft and his hands were so much larger than hers. Femka's trance wore down when the medicine touched her wound. It stung somewhat making her wince until the mechanic covered up the injury with the white tape.

"There," he said finally finished and giving her back her hand.

"Thanks." Femka wiggled her fingers and watched Ratchet put the things back into the grey pouch and kicked her legs in front of her. "Did Clank go to see those things he was curious about already?" she asked looking in the Lombax's direction.

"Yeah, he said when he was finished he'd come find either of us."

"Did you think of what you wanted to do yet?"

"Not really," he chuckled. "What about you?"

"I wanted to go look around but I didn't want to go alone."

"Then I'll go with you."

Femka smiled delighted and got up from sitting on the bed. She put on her shoes and hurried over to Ratchet who waited for her by the door. Her smaller necessities she carried in a small pouch that clung to her belt. She put her glasses on lastly and placed her necklace around her neck and inside her shirt. She remembered what the stranger said yesterday. She didn't want to attract any odd attention to herself—more so than she already did at least. Ratchet opened the door and Femka exited first with him following behind her. They both headed down the hallway and to the lift they all took last night. Femka looked out to the city through the glass again making certain she wasn't too close. When they reached the bottom floor Femka was the one who was following behind Ratchet this time until they exited the hotel room. Though the sun was out and it was beautiful the weather was still miserably hot. Only after a few minutes of walking did Femka start to sweat underneath her clothing. What she wore was a white, thin material and it left most of her arms exposed—maybe that wasn't such a good choice. She looked over to Ratchet wondering how he didn't look so bothered.

"Aren't you hot?" she asked as they walked, fanning herself with her hand.

"I was born for this type of weather." His tail swept. "But it is pretty hot, even for me." He adjusted the collar of his clothing around his neck.

"I would think that being covered in fur would have something to do with it, too," Femka said reaching out to one of his ears and tugging on it playfully.

Ratchet shook his head moving out of the way so Femka couldn't grab onto him anymore but the woman insisted on trying to lunge after his tail next. He was wise to her plan and continued to turn away from her reach. It almost looked like they were doing some silly dance. When Femka tried reaching for his tail again with a gleam on her face, the Lombax slipped away reaching for the ponytail behind her head and tugged on it causing her to turn herself around and grab after his hand nearly tripping in the process and falling against him. Ratchet placed his hands on the sides of her upper arms to keep her from tumbling any further and chuckled when the woman lifted her face to look at him with her palms pressed against his chest.

"Not very graceful on your feet, are you?" he teased.

"No," she looked away, her cheeks turning pink.

"I was just kidding," he smiled tilting his head to try and look at her face.

Every time he tried to look at her she'd turn her head in a different direction to avert his gaze. Ratchet's eyes were distracted by something else soon thereafter, however. His head perked at an interesting display of Remilien activity not too far away from where they stood. The people walking under a nearby archway were overdressed and wearing what might have been the Sepria traditional garb.

"I wonder if that's a wedding," Ratchet spoke still watching the people walk by onto a bridge.

Femka turned her head around and saw the display for her own eyes. There were several people walking in front of two other Remiliens. There was a man and a woman side by side following the crowd. From where Femka stood, she could see the smiles on their faces as a Remilien behind them rung a gentle gong and another that lead the crowd played an interesting looking horn the size of his upper body. Femka noticed that the woman who was dressed the most extravagant had a bit of a belly. It made her smile at the thought for some reason. While Femka was distracted by the show, Ratchet took the opportunity to pull on her hair again. The mechanic laughed at her when she turned around quickly trying to swing at him and he started to run off, though Femka chased right after him. She was fast and kept up a decent pace as Ratchet ran along the walkway through a small crowd of people. His head turned back slightly to see if the woman was still on his tail but only turned around noticing that she wasn't. Ratchet went back through the crowd to see the human breathing heavily and hunching over.

"Are you alright?" he asked walking over to her with a quirky smile.

"I'm fine…," she panted wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "I'm okay…"

"Let's go find some place where you can cool off."

Ratchet motioned for the woman to follow when she finally caught her breath. They walked for a few minutes longer until they both came to a tall building. It was a mall of some sort and fortune would have it that the place was much cooler inside than outside. Femka followed behind the mechanic and sighed heavily at the burst of cool air that hit her face when she stepped further into the complex. There was a large fountain that scraped the ceiling in the center of the mall. Femka immediately walked over to it and sat by the rim near the water that gushed out and fell into the large pool around the sculptured spout. Ratchet joined her, sitting next to her with his tail curled around his bottom, as she took a hand full of water and dumped on top of her head with a happy sigh.

"What're we going to do with the rest of the time we have?" Femka asked looking at the time on her comm-link. They had ample time to kill.

"I have no idea. We've got about ten hours, don't we?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sure there's something moderately entertaining to do. It might not last ten hours but we'll find something."

"I want to explore the desert."

Ratchet looked at her like she was an idiot.

"You sweat instantaneously the minute you step outside in this weather. I don't think it's much of a good idea to wonder in the wasteland with how you are."

Femka turned her head to Ratchet.

"I saw a river, albeit a small river, but I saw it running along the city. We could follow it."

"I dunno know, Fem. The sun's really hot here and your skin's very fair. You'll burn if you're out there too long."

"I'll buy an umbrella. And we won't be out that long. And besides, it's already fourteen hours into the day and I know that this planet has a twenty-four-hour cycle just like my planet does, and if it's anything like my planet then the sun shouldn't be up longer than twenty hours."

Ratchet snickered with a flick of his tail and smile on his face.

"Okay, fine. We can go. But if I notice your skin is turning red we should probably go back—and I told you so, also."

Femka smiled standing up from her seat on the fountain rim.

"We'll need to go back to the room first so we can get water to bring with us," Ratchet stated standing up as well.

The woman more than happily led the way back to the hotel room this time. She was eager to go exploring. It was still completely different than Earth but the desert was somewhat similar to the one she lived in. What's more is that they had plenty of time ahead of them, so why not explore? When she made it to their room Femka hurried over to her backpack and took her clothes out of it and waited for Ratchet to come back with the canisters of fresh water. The outfit that she wore now wasn't so bad to wear out there; it was a good thing it covered most of her body and that it was very light in color and in thickness. She only worried about her arms and her head. Femka pondered for a moment setting her bag on the bed and dug through every compartment.

"I know I put that stuff in here before I came to this universe," she said aloud searching through her bag. "Aha!"

Femka pulled out a small bottle of sunscreen she threw in her backpack before she went out bike riding the day of the incident. It hadn't expired yet and it should do the trick well enough. The woman lathered her arms and face up with the cream and kept the bottle in the compartment it was in. Femka found her phone and MP3 played in another compartment when she was looking through her things and remembered that they were both dead. She chuckled through her nose with a small thought in mind that concerned her ability.

"I could probably recharge these now that I think about it. But I'm a little scared that I might overheat them, or blow them up… I can control my power but not that well."

She placed the phone and MP3 player in the place she stored them previously and looked over at the door that opened revealing Ratchet who was carrying six canisters with him that occasionally dripped from the moisture that gathered around them.

"Okay, this should be good enough."

He brought the bottles over to Femka's backpack and she held it open for him to place the tall, water-filled objects inside. She pulled the bag up and zipped it putting it over her back.

"This is heavier than I thought," she noted trying to adjust the weight of the bag with her own.

"Here, let me carry it." He took the bag from her shoulders and wore it instead over his back. He loosed the straps and adjusted the backpack so it was more comfortable. "Ready?"

She nodded eager to get going.

"Alright, let's go."

It took them about an hour to walk to the edge of the city and make it to the bottom where the river was. There was a shaft that would take them to the ground that was covered in sand and the river was just less than a mile away. Ratchet was taking the journey barefoot since he figured it would be easier that way than wearing shoes. His feet were designed for the terrain they would be walking on regardless. The two trucked onward toward the river and already the heat was pounding onto to Femka from the hot sun above. She kept up the pace with Ratchet until they made it to the stream of flowing water. There was some vegetation that grew along side of the small river and Femka walked through it to step into the surprisingly cool water. She continued to walk further into the water until it came up to her waist and she sat down with an audible sigh of refreshment. Ratchet smiled and waited for her to come back closer to the land.

"Okay, we can keep going now," she said smiling with water dripping off of her clothing and hair.

Femka walked alongside her friend by the river intermittently taking a drink of water from the bottles they brought with them. By the time the woman turned her head back to look at the city they left behind them it was looking pretty small—well, not that small, but much smaller, nevertheless. The sun was making its way closer to the ground as well. They had been walking onward for over an hour and from time to time Femka would take dips in the river. At one point, Ratchet left the backpack on the ground to join her—even he was getting hot. As they continued along again, Femka looked at her communicator to see that the time was already half past seventeen hours of the day but the sun looked like it was getting ready to touch the horizon soon.

"Ratchet?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's go back now. I'm getting tired."

"Yeah, me too. The sun looks like it's going to set in a couple hours anyway."

The two turned around and began making their way back. Most of the walk back Femka was lost in her thoughts. Their conversations were sparse, since the woman daydreamt so much. Ratchet once looked over to her with a smile wondering just what she was thinking of. She saw the look and blinked turning her head in his direction.

"Still thinking about that person?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm still thinking about them."

Femka sighed through her nose looking onward to the city that was getting bigger by the minute.

"_I really wish I could tell you how I feel,"_ she thought. _"But it's so difficult…"_

A little more than an hour and a half passed that they were finally at the city's border and riding the shaft that they took earlier up to the walkway and to the transport. Femka's clothes were still damp and she made sure to stand while on the monorail car as they went back to the hotel. Of course she was still quiet and looking at the ground. As they walked back to the hotel Femka looked over at her friend and finally spoke feeling like her emotions were becoming more harder to bear all of a sudden.

"I have a problem," she said looking down keeping a slow pace.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Ratchet's head titled slightly and he stared at her.

"I'm confused…"

"About what?"

"Besides that person that I've been thinking about, I've been thinking about something else. I've been thinking about home and how much I can't wait to go back and see everyone but at the same time I… I don't want to go home." She stopped walking and held her arms. "I don't wanna leave."

"I… can see why that's a problem." The mechanic stopped as well. He noticed that she looked like she was about to cry after he spoke. "Oh, Fem, don't cry…"

"I'm not… I'm just upset…"

Ratchet's ears went down feeling sympathetic for her and moved closer to the woman putting a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her a little. Her sad eyes looked up at him.

"I'll miss you…," she said trying her hardest to push back a tear that clung to the corner of her eye.

"Come here."

The woman inched closer when he opened his arms and took her in for a tight embrace and she wrapped her arms around his neck resting her head over his shoulder. He held her close keeping silent for a while just thinking to himself. Some things were starting to make a little more sense to him now. All those moments when Femka would blush around him didn't go unnoticed and that "person" she was always thinking about, he had a feeling who that was as well.

"_No wonder why this is so difficult for her,"_ he thought.

But he wouldn't say anything about it until he knew for certain. Even the mere thought of it made him shy. For the moment he let Femka relax in his embrace and she sniffled just once with an exhale through her nostrils. She closed her eyes and he could feel her body weight rest on him as her face shifted to nestle into his neck.

"Fem," he said quietly after a moment, "I know it's hard but you have to think of what's best for you."

"I know," she muttered with her face still hidden somewhat. "I just… I don't want to lose someone like you."

"You won't lose me, Fem."

"Yeah, I will. If I go home, I won't be able to see you again, especially if my planet isn't even in this universe. And if it was, you still couldn't see me, because of how underdeveloped we are compared everyone else here." She sulked.

"I'll think of a way." Ratchet pulled her out in front of him, keeping his hands firm on her arms. "Don't be so down. I mean, you haven't even left yet." He smiled at her attempting to make light of the situation but Femka's head was looking down at her feet. "Aw, c'mon, Fem. You're making me depressed." He frowned.

"…I'm sorry."

Ratchet sighed and let go of Femka with a huff. It was already twenty hours and the sun was completely under the horizon. The Lombax didn't feel like he would have any luck trying to cheer the girl up either. She seemed determined to stay unhappy for the time being.

"Hey," Ratchet said breaking the silence, "we should head back to the hotel room to get our things ready. We have to go soon."

Femka nodded slowly and started walking forward but remained silent as she did. She felt a knot in her stomach but she just couldn't say anything without killing the mood further. Femka glanced over the Lombax that stood next to her when they arrived at the hotel and stood in the elevator. She wanted to open her mouth again but turned away and kept quiet as they reached their floor and both left the lift walking into the room. The lights were dim and Clank didn't seem to be around still. Ratchet pondered where his friend was with a small curious hum before he started gathering whatever things he had in the hotel room. Femka took back her bag from Ratchet and pulled out the bottles of finished water. Before she started putting her clothes and things back inside the backpack she headed into the bathroom to relieve herself and at the same time just think. The woman stared at her face in the mirror and sighed.

"Way to be, Fem," she said quietly with a little groan.

The young woman grumbled and turned the sink on dampening the washcloth from earlier and lathered up her face with it. She turned off the water having a second thought to just shower instead. Her clothes were nearly dry on her body but from sweating all day and jumping into unknown waters she just felt like a shower was better for her. She sighed heavily with mild aggravation at her own stubborn emotions and let the warm water run over her when she undressed and stepped into the stall. Femka put on her necklace when she finished and wrapped a towel around her body and left the bathroom to retrieve her clothes. Ratchet had finished gathering everything and left for the moment to put what he brought back on the ship. The emotionally congested female dressed quickly and put her glasses on to see the room more clearly and sat on the bed putting her stuff in the backpack she carried around with her everywhere. She took out her sketchpad while she waited for the mechanic to return and flipped it over to a drawing she had done several weeks ago. She smiled at it brought out a pencil to make a few more adjustments to the drawing and held it out in front of her when she was finished to critique it.

"There."

Just as she smiled at the picture the door opened and she looked over to see Ratchet and quickly closed her drawing pad putting it in her bag.

"Are you ready? Clank told me he was already on his way to the pub and he'd meet us there. Do you have everything?" the mechanic asked looking about the room.

"Yeah."

Femka slipped her backpack over her shoulders and motioned over to the door leaving first with Ratchet behind her. They both silently went down the elevator again. This time Ratchet was finding it hard to speak with the quiet girl. He had thoughts of his own plaguing his mind. He felt bad that he couldn't cheer her up and at the same time he felt equally terrible that she couldn't even choose between his world and her own. That was whole reason they were here in the first place, though. He wanted her to be happy and to go home and to reunite with her family and friends. But because of the other thought in his mind he knew she'd still be upset if she left. The mechanic almost felt like what they were about to do would be fruitless. Regardless, they both entered his ship and headed to the pub. Femka sat in her seat that she always would sit in and looked out the window the whole time. They had a couple more hours until the mysterious stranger would meet up with them by the time they arrived at the pub. Femka stepped out of the ship leaving her things inside of it and walked inside the place with Ratchet. It was the same as yesterday, dim lights, soft music, ordinary aliens and a Terachnoid bartender. Ratchet's eyes scanned the room to see Clank sitting at a table with a few fembots and the Lombax couldn't help but crack a smile. They seemed to be swooning over the little man as he laughed and talked about his stories. Ratchet walked over to meet with his friend placing a hand on his hip with a small smirk.

"Seems like you're in good company, pal," he said perking a brow at the women that sat around him.

"Ah, Ratchet. Yes indeed. I have been enlightening them about all our adventures and daring feats," Clank responded with a glow.

"I'm sure you have."

"Where is Miss Femka?"

"She's right—" Ratchet looked behind him but there was no Femka. "Well, she _was_ right here." His head glanced around the place to see Femka sitting at a table in the corner with her head down low and resting on her arms.

"She does not look very happy." Clank blinked with a concerned stare.

"No, well, she's stuck between a rock and a hard place." Ratchet sighed with a drop of his shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"She's kind of upset about going back home and leaving us." He scratched his neck. "Also…" Ratchet glanced at Femka quickly and then back to Clank before he continued, "do you mind if I talk to you in private?"

"Of course not." Clank hopped off of the chair and turned to his company. "If you will excuse me, Ladies."

"Certainly, Clank," the three female robots said together with giggles.

Clank proceeded to follow Ratchet over to the bartender's counter and sat down next to him in an empty seat.

"What is the matter?" Clank asked blinking his big, green eyes.

"Alright, you remember how you always say I'm bad with women?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm about ninety-nine percent sure that Femka likes me, not in the platonic way either," The Lombax said looking back over to the woman who slumped at her table.

"How are you so certain?"

"It's just a big hunch, buddy and it's another reason that makes it the more obvious why she doesn't wanna leave." His face turned back to Clank. "I just don't know what to do about it," he said with a shrug looking her way again. "She is really pretty…" His voice was soft and he was deep in thought.

"Ah, I understand. Miss Femka is a very attractive woman. It is interesting that she finds you attractive as well, given that her species know its kind as the only intelligent life forms in existence. But I have noticed, as well, how she acts around you at some points."

"I don't wanna break her heart, Clank. She's so fragile."

"And so it is what you meant by being 'a rock in a hard place'," he commented.

"Yeah." He slouched. "If she stays, she'll just be homesick for Earth and her friends or family won't see her again, and if she leaves, she'll feel incomplete; and I don't know if either of those are feelings that will go away over time. And we came here to take her home."

"The decision is entirely of Miss Femka's discretion."

"I know. But I don't think she _can_ decide." Ratchet sighed once again. "I wonder what made her like me so much?" he pondered aloud with his chin on his palm and his elbow on the counter.

"I am nothing more than certain that it was because of your valor and charity which caused her to become so fond of you. After all, you did take her into your home and watched over her when she needed someone to." Clank turned his gaze to his pensive friend. "And I do believe right now she needs you still."

"Yeah," he smiled gently. "I feel guilty watching her sit there by herself. I just wish I could get her to be happy for the time that she has left here."

"Miss Femka is a smart woman. I am sure she will come to a revelation eventually."

"I hope so, otherwise this trip is gonna be rough." Ratchet slid off of the stool. "I'll be with her if you need me."

Ratchet's tail swept behind him as he walked over to the table that the lonely woman sat at in the dim light. There was a small lit candle that burnt on the table. Femka was watching the little flame dance and flicker when Ratchet sat down next to her. He copied her position folding his arms and slumping forward placing his chin on his wrists low to the table top and stared at Femka until she was looking back at him. He smiled at her moving a thick strand of hair from her face and placing it behind her ear.

"What'cha doin'?"

"Thinking," she lightly smiled back.

"What about this time?"

"Something to eat."

"Oh, that's right. We skipped dinner…" He sat up with his ears in different directions. "You seem to have more tolerance to the food here than I do. Do you want me to get you something from up front?"

"What about you?" Femka sat up straight as well placing her hands on her lap.

"I'll just get something from the ship. I'm not prepared to stomach their cuisine again." His eyes narrowed with a shake of his head. "I'll be right back."

The woman nodded her head and watched him walk off to the counter and talk to the pink alien on the other side and give him some bolts after pointing with his thumb over his shoulder to Femka's direction. The Terachnoid nodded and Ratchet then left the establishment. Femka blushed with a warm smile and saw the bartender scuttle over to her table with a plate of food balanced on his hand. He set the dish in front of her and adjusted his glasses.

"Thank you," she smiled.

"Of course," he chuckled fidgeting his fingers bashfully. "Please enjoy it, Miss."

"I will. Thanks." She gleamed as the nervous Terachnoid shuffled back to the counter and started eating her food.

The resemblance was to some kind of pasta—and it wasn't bad at all. Though, she had a feeling Ratchet would disagree. She tried to pace herself when she ate it but, well, she was starving. Ratchet finally returned with something that would better fit his own tastes and rejoined Femka at the table taking note in her fast consumption of the noodles.

"Wanna try?" she asked sucking up some noodles when she did.

"Nah, it's all you," he declined.

"How much longer until that person shows up?"

"We've still got about an hour." Ratchet began eating his food.

"I wonder who or what they are."

"Personally I'd like to know what gender they are. Or if they even have a gender…"

"That happens here?" Femka looked up at him from her food.

"Sure. Sometimes it's very unexpected… and unanticipated…" He grimaced.

Femka couldn't help but laugh at the face he was making. She figured he must've had a bad encounter at some point in his life. After a moment of just talking and eating Clank decided to join them at their table and engage in their conversations as well. It helped pass the time until the stranger was to arrive. The clock struck midnight and right on cue the masked alien sauntered into the pub scanning the room for the trio. He/she approached them when he/she finally saw where they were and the group turned to stranger's direction as the person sat down at another table across from them not looking back.

"Are you ready?" the voice asked quietly.

"We've been waiting on you," Ratchet smiled turning his head away from the stranger.

"Good," he/she smiled and pulled out a nav-unit. "Get to your ship and synchronize with my navigational unit in ten minutes. We'll see each other soon."

The masked being left the table as quickly as he/she came and Femka looked over to Ratchet with an empty plate in front of her and then over to Clank. Ratchet glanced back at her with a nod of his head.

"Let's go."


	13. Prison Break

**Chapter Twelve**

"My friend is located at Hol Hayuk Prison. It's on a moon named Balva that orbits around the planet Kaith," the voice spoke via transmission through Ratchet's ship that pursued his/hers.

"A moon base?"

"Yeah. Obviously it's easier to keep prisoners confined to a small rock, since escaping would leave them with nowhere to go."

"How heavy's the security?"

"It's pretty tight, which is why I needed your help to begin with. I'll send you the schematic to the prison compound."

"Downloading information," Clank announced accepting the file.

The computer automatically opened a visual display of the prison area showing pictures of the outside and below the blueprints of the inside.

"That compilation is about two years old. Granted, some things might have probably changed. Don't treat the map like it's trustworthy. For the most part, however, I assume things are just as they were two years ago, anyway."

Ratchet looked over the pictures and plans of the compound. It had a similar layout to Zordoom. The planet had no breathable air and oxygen was only supplied for inside the prison. It explained why the outside was watched over only by robots. Clank uploaded the schematics to their nav-units as Ratchet pressed onward toward the moon prison.

"There aren't any places to land on Balva that are safe. This prison isn't for visiting," the voice heeded.

"That's not a problem," the mechanic assured.

"Cloaking device?" he/she asked.

"Installed and ready for use."

"Just be careful about that, Lombax. I don't know if they have a jamming device for those."

Both ships began to advance to the planet Hol Hayuk and the moon was more visible now. Femka watched out of her window with anticipation. Ten million thoughts ran through her mind about this whole endeavor. Ratchet was really about to break into a prison to free some guy that he didn't know to find another guy they still didn't know all in theory that this man could help her return home. The woman couldn't conjure up an appropriate feeling. She was nervous, shocked, puzzled, uncertain and just afraid.

"Do you have a plan for this… what's your name?" Ratchet asked confused.

"You can call me Gallo and yes, I have a plan. Do you?"

"I've got one but I have some qualms."

"Your female friend?"

"I'm not taking her with me."

Femka sighed with relief as she sank back in her chair. She wasn't about to be a part of this.

"What's your plan, Lombax?"

"I can't trust you but I can trust her. I want her aboard your ship while you give me the information that I need as Clank and I infiltrate the prison to find your friend."

"Alright. It's a deal. I can't exactly fight anyway," Gallo said with a small smirk on his/her face. "But is she alright with it?"

Ratchet turned his head to look back at Femka asking for her approval but she was hesitant.

"I'll be alright down there. I've done this stuff before," he said. "But I don't want you down there with me."

"How long will it take you?" she looked up at him worried.

"If we play our cards right and Gallo gives me the right instructions, then no more than an hour."

"You promise you'll be safe?"

"I promise."

She nodded silently as Ratchet then turned himself back to the monitor and responded to Gallo's last transmission.

"Fly your ship over here; we'll link for a minute to send Fem over to you."

"Roger."

The masked Gallo flew the ship close to Ratchet's and kept at the same speed. A small attachment on the side door was initiated to link the two ships together. Femka stood up from her chair as did Ratchet and Clank. The woman walked over to the door as the mechanic retrieved some provisions for her. The door opened revealing the metal tunnel that went to Gallo's ship. The alien was waiting on the other end visibly. Ratchet stood next to Femka as she turned around to look at him with a sad face.

"It's not goodbye yet. Don't worry; I'll be okay." He patted her shoulder. "Do you wanna take your bag with you?" he asked only to which her head shook 'no'. "Well, I want you take this oxygen mask with you anyway and this small provisions pack, just in case."

Femka took the pouch when he handed it to her and hooked it on her belt along with the mask. She motioned to hug him and closed her eyes as he did the same squeezing her tight.

"Can I give you something, too?" she said unhooking her grip around him and stared at him. "Just in case."

Ratchet watched her unfasten the necklace that hung around her neck and took his hand to place it on his palm as she covered her other hand over it. He smiled and did the same with his hand on top of hers. He took the blue and purple gem and clasped the latch together so it hung around his neck.

"You promise me?"

"I promise you."

Femka stared at him for a moment and then turned her eyes away. They quickly glanced back to him again and she boldly pressed her lips against his only to turn around and run through the tunnel and onto Gallo's ship and move out of sight. Ratchet blinked his eyes, his nose turning pink again. The doors closed and the Lombax looked to his companion with a grin. The small robot shook his head slowly and followed him back to their front seats.

"Lombax," the voice came over the intercom.

"Why does everybody insist on calling me that? I have a name," Ratchet complained to himself.

"I'll orbit the moon from a safe distance and feed you the info from above. If we get interrupted, there's no other way I can help you."

"I've got the map and the plans. If anything goes wrong I'll abort. Clank will set our comm-links to private, so hopefully we won't get intercepted."

"Alright. Good luck."

Femka had sat in one of the seats as she saw Ratchet and Clank's ship fly on ahead of Gallo's. The stranger looked back to Femka through the mask as she sat looking at her feet with her hands cupped together and her thumbs twiddling.

"So, what's your story?"

"It's nothing much, really," she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I'm from a planet called Earth. It's in a place called the Milky Way galaxy. I came here on accident. My planet doesn't know anything about life outside of it, intelligent life, I mean."

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple months or something like that."

"So, you need to get back home to planet Earth, hm? Marlow will help you. Undoubtedly."

Femka at the mysterious alien with a strange expression.

"What's with the mask?"

"I always keep my mask on in public, with company, anywhere. I don't want to show my face."

"Why?" she pressed inquiringly.

"Personal reasons."

"Oh."

Femka gazed to another direction and sat quietly until she heard a beeping sound coming from Gallo's comm-link.

"Gallo, I'm landing on Balva. So far, so good," Ratchet's voice spoke out.

"Good. Just follow my instructions now when you're ready."

"Affirmative. Go on."

"You need to land in the back of the main facility. My friend is located in Building Alpha of the compound but you can't just go in there and sneak around like it's nothing. Before you can make it to the building itself you'll have disarm a double-security field."

"That would've been nice to know before I came down here…"

"I have faith that you can deactivate it. Now listen carefully," the stranger began, "both controls are in the back. The first node is in a tower and the second is on the outside below it. Check your schematic. I have the points marked for you. Once you've disarmed the field it'll allow you access into the facility, granted that you're not caught yet. Within those walls is my friend. He's being imprisoned in Unit Seven of Sector Veras. I can't tell you how well guarded that area is, so I suggest thinking of another distraction besides terminating the security fields, though that itself should buy you some time."

"And your friend's name?"

"Faas. He's a Remilien as well."

"Alright," Ratchet said with a sigh. "I've got this. I'll be putting my communicator on silent until I'm departing."

"Affirmative."

"Fem," he called out to her, "I'll see you soon."

Ratchet silenced his device and Gallo did the same. His ship soon touched down on the moon not before his cloaking unit was initiated. Ratchet glanced over the plans once again onboard the ship and Clank inspected them as well.

"From where you have landed, there is at least a twenty meter distance to the tower and from the tower it is an additional fifteen meters to the building itself. Gallo said that we can enter from behind the building. I suppose the question is, how?"

"Yeah, how to find a way that isn't too obvious." Ratchet scratched his chin. "Well, pal, we've been in this business long enough to both know that there's no such thing as a quiet break-and-entry to a mega-prison. Here's the deal, we dismantle the field simultaneously. You take the bottom and I'll take the top—that part should be quiet. At the top of the tower I'll initiate a distraction, a decoy. Meanwhile, you'll run to the back with guards distracted and enter the building."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I'll think of something. I'll meet up with you somehow. Just find a way to get inside." Ratchet scanned over the blueprints. "There. You can use one of the ducts," he pointed. "Let's do this."

Ratchet stood up from his seat and went to the back of the ship to arm himself with the supplies that he would need. Various gadgets and other weaponry were equipped to his belt and pouches. Clank was given supplies as well, small explosives and the like. The small robot hopped onto Ratchet's back and the mechanic slipped on his mask for oxygen. With that the two were off of the ship and stealthily headed for Hol Hayuk prison. The transmission tower was well in view as Ratchet hid behind some rocks that were big enough to cover him. He pressed a button on the side of the helmet that he wore for the occasion as a visor covered his eyes and zoomed closely into the view ahead. There were six robots watching around the tower below and several others that were scattered about around the field.

"Okay. There's six of 'em, and a lot of others dispersed around the force field. I'm gonna throw a flare away from the tower and see how much of a distraction that causes."

Ratchet took out a small gun and pointed it over the rock and upward slightly. The shot was initially silent but the flare flew past the tower over to one of the robots outside the field and exploded.

"Oops…" Ratchet's head perked up. "That wasn't a flare…"

The robot's body parts flew in several directions as other guards came running to it to check out the action. Ratchet took the opportunity to run to another rock that was closer to the tower. Four of the six guards left their station at the base of the tower and Ratchet loaded the gun again shooting it at another guard in the opposite direction causing him to explode as well.

"Ratchet, this is not a quiet entry."

"No, but it's working so far," he said making another dash to the tower's base. The mechanic quickly opened a satchel on the side of his belt pulling out a small circular device with a red button that glowed and Clank hopped off holding the same thing in his hand.

"Okay, stay down here and I'll give you a signal to blow up the control."

Ratchet hurried up the tower's exterior and climbed upward. Clank watched around him to see if any more guards were coming and only noticed that they were still distracted by the small explosions and were trying to trace the whereabouts of the gunfire. There were two guards coming from around the field, however. Clank stared up to see how far Ratchet had climbed—he was almost there. Ratchet climbed through a window in the tower noticing a guard was still in there but had his back turned to him. The Lombax froze and inched closer to the control panel with his back pressed against the wall. His eyes shifted cautiously over to the switch panel and his fingers were almost able to touch it. The metal monster turned around with a glare of red in its eyes and pointed a gun at the mechanic who smiled nervously.

"You...," he squinted knowing that the alien was the reason for the disturbances.

Ratchet threw the small device at the robot as it blinked faster and faster. Soon the room was in flames and Ratchet was propelled out of the window. Clank witnessed it from down below and was certain that their plan was already ruined. He placed the detonation bomb on the control panel below regardless and let it explode while taking cover behind a rock as Ratchet fell in front of him with a loud thud.

"What is your plan now?"

"Go through the aqueducts…," he said with his face on the ground in grunts of pain. "I'll be right behind you…"

The tower meanwhile had fallen and crumbled completely all around leaving that portion of the field while open. Guards were dispelled and on their way to the mess. Clank didn't want to leave Ratchet behind but they had a job to do. The little robot hurried as fast as he could to the duct that spat out filthy water from inside the building. It was big enough for him and would barely be the same for Ratchet. Clank crawled inside and ran ahead looking back every so often for his friend but Ratchet was never behind him.

"I must continue onward," Clank sighed. He turned and continued en route with the plans.

On the outside Ratchet was lifting himself off of the ground slowly as his ears picked up the sound of running footsteps and an alarm.

"Oh, great…"

He hurried behind one of the rocks and peeked over to see the guards of the prison carrying heavy weaponry and searching for the culprit. His eyes scanned the building seeing the aqueduct that Clank went in through and bit his tongue.

"I can't make it in there now, it's too late."

"Ratchet," Clank spoke through his comm-link quietly. "Where are you?"

"I'm still outside. It's too crowded out here for me to go in unnoticed. Keep going forward and look for Faas. I'll have to stay out here until you can free him. Once you do, I'll help clear a pathway for your escape."

"Affirmative. I will maintain radio silence."

Clank turned off his comm-link and wandered through the ducts until he came to another ventilation unit that was cycling oxygen and carbon dioxide. Clank removed the cover of the vent and slipped into the mechanics room. There was no one on guard there but his eyes were scrupulous to search for any sign of a camera. It would appear that none were placed about the chamber. Clank took the moment to oversee a holographic floor plan of the building and locate Gallo's friend. A thought occurred to him as he examined the holo-display. It wasn't anything serious but he would store it in his memory until he met up with the masked stranger again. Clank turned off the holographic map and proceeded to the other end of the room finding another vent up above. The robot climbed up a pipe and disassembled the screws from the vent cover and crawled inside. His sensors could still hear the alarms that were sounding outside. He hoped Ratchet would be alright out there. Realizing that hope, his head shook and he continued onward scanning around the hallways when the vents would stop in one direction to let the oxygen out into the prison. After running about and making turn after turn Clank stopped and opened the map once again to pinpoint his location. He was in Sector Veras finally. Clank looked through a gap in the vents and into the hallway behind the small gate. He saw the large sector in front of him, vast and full of cells with depressed or angry inmates. He turned around and moved along the way. Unit seven was right around the corner. Clank stared out of the gate again when he arrived, his green eyes searching and scrutinizing the environment around. There were guards everywhere as to be expected but they were still in alert-mode from Ratchet's commotion that he caused outside earlier.

"Hmm…" Clank rubbed his metal chin. "Faas is a Remilien and I must seek out which one he is or which containment grid he is in." The robot sighed. "This does not seem like sufficient information. I do not know what he looks like."

Clank observed through the bars all the prisoners in that chamber. A lot of them were Remilien but also many were not. There were approximately fifty cells in Unit Seven and an additional six-hundred in Sector Veras. Clank stepped away from the vent cover and turned on his comm-link to radio with Gallo.

"Gallo, I have reached Unit Seven. Which cell is Faas confined in?"

"I don't know," Gallo responded.

"May I ask something? How is it that you know to begin with that he was here in this section of the prison? It seems like you are able to communicate with him somehow. If this is so, why did you not simply ask him to tell you the whereabouts of Mister Marlow?"

"I couldn't just ask him. The last time I talked to Faas was thirteen months ago… He sent me written mail; it was smuggled out and sent to me. That's how I got those blueprints. But that was the only time I talked to him. So it's even possible that he's not in this sector anymore."

"Perhaps a physical description?"

"He has darker skin than your average Remilien. His hair is black. I'm not sure if it's short anymore. He has a tattoo on his forehead that comes down the bridge of his nose and down the center of his face—it's black as well. The last time I saw him his ears were pierced and so was his nose. Does that help?"

"It will have to do," Clank said walking back over to the vent cover. His eyes scanned the chamber again, this time much more closely. "By your story it would appear that you have been planning this break out for awhile," he said still searching.

"Yeah. You could say that…"

"I believe I have found him." Clank switched his communicator to take a picture of the area. "Uploading image to your database."

Gallo's computer received the file opening it up automatically on her computer screen inside the ship. There, in one of the fifty cells was her long, captive friend. She knew it instantly. Femka stared over the alien's shoulder and looked at the prison inmates and squinted to see the small image of Faas in his orange, prison jumpsuit.

"That's him. What's your plan, robot?" the alien asked.

"I will make my way through these vents further and enter his cell. These shafts are too small for him to fit through, but I have an idea…"

"Do whatever it takes. I'll be in your debt if you make it out unscathed with Faas at your side."

"I will see what I can manage."

The tiny robot turned off his comm-link and continued through the ducts to the other side of the unit. The Remilien's cell was numbered as "706" in some other language but Clank made sure to follow the plans precisely so that he was over top it. His feet stepped quietly on top of the vent cover and he could see the prisoner below him sitting on his uncomfortable bed. His foot tapped the metal quietly in an attempt to get Faas's attention. The alien's dark red ears flicked and he finally looked up after another tap. He saw the robot's bright green eyes and gave a strange look. His head turned to the electric grid of his cell seeing the guards walking by occasionally and stood up to look up at the vent again.

"I am here on reconnaissance. Are you Faas?" Clank asked quietly.

"I am. Who are you?" His eyes checked back at the cell gate every now and then and went back to Clank.

"My name is Clank. I am here to break you out of prison, as unorthodox as that may be."

"What?" his voice went sharp but his head turned quickly to make sure no one was listening. He whispered again when he talked. "How? I… what?"

"I have memorized the floor plans of this section by now. From the position of your cell there is only several feet of concrete and metal. I advise that you stay clear of the wall."

The Remilien tilted his head confused with a kink on his mouth and took several steps away from the wall. Clank moved away from the vent cover and sent an SMS to Ratchet who was still hiding on the outside.

Ratchet looked at his blinking comm-link as he stayed low behind a rock and in a small crater. He turned on the device and synchronized with Clank's location.

"Ratchet, I have found him."

"Great, great. Clank, are you almost done? These guys are still looking for me and I'm running out of places to hide," the mechanic whispered.

"I need your help breaking him out."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Is it possible for you to make it to your ship?"

"It's a bit of a dash but I can break for it."

"Excellent. I request that you demolish this segment of the prison with the weaponry on your ship. However, I prefer that you keep it small. We do not want additional prisoners escaping."

"Sounds like fun," he smiled. "Good thing that part of the field is still inactive. I'll SMS when I'm in the ship."

"Affirmative." The robot walked back over to the vent cover and look down at Faas. "Please standby for demolition."

On the outside, Ratchet was keeping his head out of sight and sneaking at every chance he could get to try and approach his ship. There were several guards running about still. They were on their way to repairing the damaged protection grid.

"Oh, damn it…" The mechanic looked about frantically. His ship was still several meters away. His hand reached in his pouch and he pulled out another small bomb. He quickly lobbed it over the rock he hid behind and the explosion erupted opposite his ship. Some guards quickly ran in the direction of the explosion. Another, however, was aware of where it was launched from. When Ratchet went to run he was instantly being shot at.

"Ah, crap! Save your identity, save your identity…" The helmet that he wore quickly covered his face and ears as he ran to his hidden ship. "I don't need this on my record." The Lombax hurried to his ship and hopped inside engaging it as fast as he could. "C'mon, c'mon…"

The guards saw the invader slip into nothingness and stood there for a moment contemplating what just happened. Instead of thinking, they were commanded to just open fire randomly on the spot where he disappeared. When heir bullets and lasers were repelled they knew just where he was. Ratchet's ship lifted off of the guard as it continued to take fire directly until the shields were initiated. The dust from the thrust and lift off of the ship kicked up underneath it.

"Clank, they found me and they're shooting at me. I'm invisible and they're shooting at me. I'll hurry as fast as I can."

Ratchet's ship flew quickly to the location of Clank's nav-unit. His ship entered through the hole in the shield of the prison. His cloaking device had taken several hits and was now revealing his ship on and off. There was a transmission that pending on Ratchet's ship and the mechanic opened the channel only for audio on his end. A face appeared on his screen and it didn't look very happy. It was a bigger species of alien. He resembled an Agorian by many traits of his physique. The red eyed brute wore an officer hat of some type and had a cigar that huffed smoke out of his nostrils when he was about to speak.

"I have no idea who you are or what you think you're doing but if you're planning a jail break and you think you're gonna do it without any consequences, you're dead wrong. Stop now, turn yourself in or we're going to blow your vessel into a million pieces in thirty seconds."

"Oh, boy."

Ratchet closed the channel between him and what appeared to be the head of the facility and initiated his shields to full power. He arrived directly in front of the wall where Faas and Clank were. He was counting his definite explosion but prepared the lasers of his ship.

"Standby Clank, opening fire," he warned.

The small robot broke the vent from inside Faas's cell and fell down. The guards inside heard the loud clunk of metal hit the floor and ran over to Faas's cell. The Remilien looked at the guards with a shrug and held his breath as the wall behind him was destroyed with a thin laser carving out an oddly shaped hole that crumbled the metal and concrete causing to cover the ground. Ratchet's ship was hovering outside as Clank ran towards it and jumped on one of the wings. The Remilien did the same as Ratchet opened the side door and started to fly off. His thirty seconds were well finished and several stationed cannons placed on the outside of the prison opened fire on him. Faas clung to the outside of the ship for his life as oncoming lasers zipped past him.

"Get inside!" Clank yelled to the ex-convict.

Faas tried to reach for the handle on the outside of the ship that hooked onto the door. He nearly slipped off as the ship made a sharp turn and flip in order to dodge a heavy blast. The red alien lost his grip but the ship turned and he slid gripping onto the lower bar of the door as he legs dangled in the air behind him. He pulled himself inside quickly with Clank's help and the door shut behind them both.

"They're on my tail," Ratchet said anxiously. His hands gripped the controls tightly as he continued to evade the attacks.

"They are sending more ships," Clank noted sitting in his regular seat.

"Ratchet, are you alright?" Gallo's voice interrupted the chaos.

"No, my shields are almost depleted and my cloaking device is deactivated. I don't know how much longer my ship can last."

The small vessel fled from the moon base and zipped around as it was heavily pursued by several other ships still shooting at it. Femka finally saw the action from Gallo's ship out through the window.

"Do something!" she yelled.

"My ship's not armed enough to take all of them out. There isn't much I can do."

"What, are you afraid to fight?"

"Can you fly a ship, Earthling?" Gallo snapped.

Femka's face tensed and her mouth frowned as he eyes watched the madness in front of her.

"We can't just watch them like that…"

Gallo was forced to move the ship further away as other ships were about to scream past them to chase down Ratchet and the others. His small ship punched it with a blue burst of flames trying to lose the other ships.

"I think they've got your ID," Faas said buckling himself in a seat finally.

"I noticed. Just hang on." Ratchet's hand pressed on a lever near the steering control and the ship moved faster.

Gallo's ship punched it as well. They didn't want to lose sight of Ratchet's ship. The masked stranger made sure to keep connected with the Lombax's communicator. Other planets and ships passed them by so fast. Femka had to keep strapped in her seat. Her heart was beating fast. They were coming up to a dark planet. Several satellites covered the planet as they orbited around. Gallo could finally see Ratchet's ship. Another that was following it seemed to be preparing for something as its cannons glowed blue. The stranger huffed with his/her eyes widened.

"Ratchet, they're going to fire an EMP bomb at your ship!"

The mechanic maneuvered his ship when the one behind him opened fire. A blast of electricity enveloped his small vessel and shocked the computer's circuits. Ratchet yelled out in pain as the shock zapped his hands forcing him to release from the controls. His ship was heading straight for the planet ahead with smoke bursting from its behind.

"Oh, no… Ratchet! Clank!" Femka shouted.

Within in the ship that fired the blast a robot opened a screen to the director of the prison facility back on Balva.

"They're crashing directly onto planet Fortum, sir. Should we retrieve them?"

"No," the commander smiled. "Let 'em die there." He laughed. "That place is a wasteland! If the crash doesn't do the job, the flora and fauna will! They can die there just like Arlis…" He puffed his cigar with a deep growl and frowned.

The gathering of ships dispersed and broke into different directions. Femka watched the ship spiral down into the planet's clutches with horror as Gallo steered the ship out of sight from the other prison vessels.

"Oh, my god… Ratchet…" Femka stood up in a panic. "We have to go after them."

"Femka… We can't just go in there. Those satellites are orbiting that planet for a reason. It's very hostile."

"But we have to go…"

The masked stranger sat in his/her seat looking down at the controls in anguish from the look Femka was giving him/her.

"We'll come back. We're gonna need some weapons, though. We'll just pray that they're still alive."


	14. We've Found Him

**Chapter Thirteen**

Smoke and black dust filled the air and the craft that smashed directly into the hard ground of Fortum was no longer in commission. The three that were inside remained unconscious after impact. Ratchet's armor took most of the damage from being thrashed about during the crash landing; his mask flew off of his face and his body slumped in his chair. Faas sustained cuts and bruises while sitting crooked in his seat with the belt halfway undone. Clank's exterior was scuffed but he was the only one who didn't need to worry about much damage. The robot sat in his seat disabled from the EMP wave. The computer up front sparked sporadically and smoke filled the cabin. Ratchet coughed becoming slightly conscious and opened his eyes with a slow flicker after flicker of his eyelids. His body hurt and a low groan escaped from his mouth. His head turned about slowly as he saw what had become of the interior of the ship and he coughed again trying to unbuckle his seatbelt. He grunted after the thing unlatched finally and pushed his body upward and pressed his feet on the ground. The mechanic gritted his teeth at the pain but stood up straight while using the pilot chair to help prop him up. He walked over to the side door and tried opening it up with the button on the side panel. That only sparked electricity at him, too. He sighed heavily with a puff of his cheeks and coughed again. Ratchet grabbed onto the handle of the door and started to pull at it. It was jammed.

"Oh, yeah, sure. The strongest part of the ship is its side door." He kicked it with frustration and attempted to ram it with his shoulder.

The door didn't budge and now, thanks to his aggression, the mechanic had a sore shoulder. He took out his wrench and tried smashing the door open that way. He began to cause several indentations on the metal seal after awhile of constant hitting. The door hinges loosened and finally the thing fell apart with one last swing and Ratchet collapsed out of the ship onto the hard ground with a whimper. His eyes lost focus for a minute until he shook his head and stood up on his feet. He looked around him to see what environment he was stranded on. He remembered the view above just before the crash. It didn't seem like this planet was inhabited—inhabited by anything intelligent, least ways. The ground he stood on was a dark purple of stone and rock. The plants that were around were of various sizes and colors, most of them were red, however. They crashed in a forest. Ratchet's ear twitched hearing the sounds of Fortum's nature. There were growls and bellows in the far off distance; the plants even made noises of their own. Ratchet turned back around and hopped inside the ship. The others were still out. The mechanic first went to Faas and undid his seatbelt. He needed to get him out before his lungs filled with too much smoke. Faas was heavier than Ratchet (also taller) and carrying him over his shoulders was the only way. He placed him next to the ship on the ground carefully and went back inside for Clank taking him out of the vessel as well. Ratchet placed his small friend next to the Remilien and ran back inside the ship to gather some provisions—or whatever he could find. He stocked his ammunition from what was left over on the ship and grabbed Femka's backpack putting it over his shoulders. The mechanic hopped off board the ship and took out a bottle of water. He poured some of the liquid in his hand and dripped it on Faas's face. The alien didn't shift even a hair. Ratchet's fingers pressed into his neck to feel for a heartbeat. He was still alive.

"Hey, wake up," he nudged the red-skinned alien moving his shoulders and shaking his unconscious head lightly and tried pouring more water onto his face.

The man scrunched his nose as some of the water entered his nostrils and his eyes squeezed tight as a small grunt tumbled from his open mouth.

"Can you hear me?"

Faas's eyes opened slowly, his vision was blurred and Ratchet's voice was muffled whenever he spoke. There was a moment of silence before the mechanic tried getting the Remilien's attention again by waving his hand in front of his face. His eyes looked directly at Ratchet and he blinked his eyes tight again until he let out another verbal sound.

"Ah… what…?"

"I said, can you hear me?"

"I can hear… What's… what happened?" The alien attempted to sit up straight.

"We crashed on some planet," he said backing up so he could stand on his feet. "My nav-unit says we're on Fortum."

Faas rubbed his head feeling a small bump on the back. He grunted with a heavy sigh and stood up slowly using the side of the ship to help him.

"We crashed on Fortum?" He sounded annoyed. "Why the hell did you break me out of jail?"

Ratchet's ears lifted at opposite ends and pointed outward, sensing the slightest lack of appreciation.

"It was Gallo's idea. Your friend said the only way I could get the information was to break you out of a prison." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Information for what? What exactly is this about?"

"The whereabouts of Arlis Marlow."

He scoffed with a sarcastic smile and laugh.

"Arlis? You risked all of our lives just for Arlis?" His tail flicked.

"Apparently!"

"Well, you've practically found him!"

The Lombax's expression eased to something a little more confused.

"Yeah, that's right. He was sent to this planet all those years ago. This is Fortum. This is a planet that they dump people like me, or now you, on," he pointed angrily, "just so they can die. This planet is so hostile I'm surprised we haven't been disassembled already. We survived a crash just so the planet can kill us. Thanks a lot."

"Oh, like I really planned to crash here!"

"Well, if you hadn't broken me out of jail!" Faas shouted.

"Didn't I already tell you that it wasn't my idea? I just needed information! Besides, I would've thought that a convict would appreciate seeing the light of day again."

"Not if it's on Fortum! At least on Hol Hoyuk I was somewhat safe and guaranteed a meal everyday and a bed to sleep on. What am I guaranteed here? Death! This place is a death sentence!"

"We're not gonna die here," Ratchet said rolling his eyes. "So, stop being such a pessimist."

"I can't believe this. This is nuts. You break me out of jail just so you can get information about Arlis who's probably been dead for a long time since he got to this place, and you expect me to be okay with everything."

"Look, my comm-link still works, yeah my ship is pretty much destroyed, but there's still a way to communicate. I have rations, I have weaponry, we're not completely defenseless. So calm down, because if you don't I also have anesthetics somewhere."

Faas glared at the mechanic and growled until he looked away and sighed.

"You know, this place is watched over by satellites that orbit the planet. People aren't supposed to just waltz in here or out of here. What're we supposed to do?"

"Like I said, my communicator's still getting a signal. Even if this place is being monitored it's not that good. Don't forget, if you're friend wanted you out of jail I'm sure he or she will come back for you. I'm determined to get off of this place but Gallo made it seem like Arlis was still alive. I need to find him."

"What do you need him for?"

"For Femka. Here, look."

Ratchet took off that necklace that his Earthling friend let him keep and presented it to Faas. The alien's eyes opened wide as he held the necklace in the palm of his hand.

"I don't believe it… How do you have this?" he looked shocked.

"It's not mine, it's Femka's. She's had this thing for a long time. She's not from any of the galaxies we know. But she came here on accident. And it was because of this thing. It's a long story but she needs this Arlis Marlow so she can go home."

Faas stared at the blue and purple stone for a moment and handed it back to Ratchet who put it around his neck again.

"Arlis knew everything about this stuff—I of all people would understand." The alien leaned against the ship rubbing his head. "Arlis was my uncle, or is…," he laughed halfheartedly. "When I was a little kid, Arlis would teach me everything about his studies or whatever he stumbled across. He showed me Neroltrium and said that I had to keep it a secret. But I remember there was some other guy with him all the time. Ipsin Ro. He was his assistant or something. I didn't mind the guy but I was little, I didn't really mind anything. But all that changed." The Remilien sighed.

"What exactly happened? How did you end up in jail?"

"It was a misunderstanding. I've been in that prison for a long time and it wasn't even my fault. When I grew into a teenager I noticed something was wrong with my uncle. That guy he hung out with was always pushing him to go further with what they were studying. He always said, _"Yeah, sure! Of course! Why not?"_ He wanted to learn more and more about Neroltrium but he was so naïve. There was an accident in his lab one day. Some of the material just got out of hand. Gallo was with me that day. We were both with Ipsin and Arlis. When it happened, Gallo's face was disfigured and I almost lost my arm. Ipsin was fine and Arlis just lost his tail and sustained some other injuries. But the Council found out and arrested my uncle. Ipsin got away. His punishment was banishment. Gallo was sent to the hospital to treat the wounds she had on her face." Faas stared at Ratchet who seemed surprised to learn that Gallo was a woman finally. "She and I were sent to prison just for being associated with Arlis," he continued. "But Gallo got loose and ran off. They sent me to Balva soon after and I was only able to speak with Gallo once many years later. When I went to the prison on my home planet they told me what would happen to my uncle." He looked down at his bare feet. "Ratchet, that's your name, right? I am a very confused Remilien. I'm finally free. But I can't tell you how I'll be if we actually find my uncle. I have so much angst for what happened. Sure he's my flesh and blood but for everything that he and Ipsin have done…" The red alien's fist balled and he went silent gritting his teeth.

Ratchet sympathized and slouched turning his eyes to look at the ground.

"Ipsin's not alive anymore," he said quietly.

"What?" Faas's view quickly fixated on the Lombax that stood several feet away.

"He escaped to Igliak in the Polaris galaxy. He's the reason that a lot of this got out of hand again. He kidnapped my friend and wanted to use her for some weapon just because of the necklace that she wore; when she came here it gave her the same attributes as the Neroltrium itself. But when I came to rescue her, his ship and weapon were demolished and he went with it."

Faas felt a bittersweet emotion flood through his veins. Ipsin was dead. It was a good thing; but at the same time, he wished that he could've been the one to kill the man. It was his fault that his uncle ended up the way he was. He was silent again and continued to stare at the ground. Ratchet didn't open his mouth again until he noticed a familiar, mechanical sound coming from the small unconscious robot near him. Clank was coming to at last as his antenna was blinking on and off. Ratchet stumbled over to him lifting his head off of the hard, purple surface of the planet. Clank's eyes opened slowly as their green lights glowed brighter and brighter. The robot's visual input gathered the information around him and finally recognized Ratchet whose face was above him with a smile. His big, green eyes blinked slowly.

"Good morning," Ratchet said happy to see that his friend was alright.

"Where are we?" the sentient being asked sitting up slowly.

"Planet Fortum. Criminal deathtrap and murderous wasteland."

"Oh, my…" Clank shook his head and stood up with a stretch of his arms and legs. "What precisely is our plan?"

"I haven't really got one yet."

Clank opened the small hatch on the front of his body and checked his communicator for a signal. He appeared to have one just like Ratchet but it didn't go very far.

"It's the satellites," Ratchet said. "I've still got a connection but it doesn't carry far. Though, I'm thinking Gallo and Fem'll return for us eventually. Until then, though, we don't have much. Oh, yeah, also, this is where the guy we're looking for is."

Ratchet proceeded to fill his friend in on the information he missed while he was unconscious. The robot seemed very intrigued haven heard that Faas was the nephew of the banished researcher.

"Is that so?"

"Yep, that's right. But there's a chance he might not be alive. I haven't seen this place in action just yet but from the loud bellows coming from the distance and Faas's description of the planet, I could imagine why."

"This may be very problematic." Clank tapped his chin and turned his head upon hearing a low growl nearby.

Faas turned his head as well.

"Something must be curious about all the commotion. I bet we scared a lot of creatures away earlier, though, that's not gonna stop them from coming back."

The sun was barely visible above. The trees were thick and blocked out most light. Ratchet's ears twitched from the sound of the wind passing through the canopy above. He looked up having caught something out of the corner of his eye. There were red vines running up the side of a gigantic tree that the ship had crashed into. The Lombax watched as the vines were visibly moving around the tree branches and slowly down the tree's trunk.

"This place is making me uncomfortable," Ratchet spoke with a cringe on his face.

"We should try to find a way out of this forest," Clank suggested.

"Good idea."

Ratchet handed Clank a weapon and presented one for Faas as well. The Remilien was hesitant to take it. His hand gripped it loosely and he held it in both of his hands. He stared at the device for a moment only to find that Ratchet was about to head away from the ship.

"Wait a minute!" He reached out for the mechanic. "You can't just go out there. You have no idea what it's like."

"I'm not gonna sit around here all day."

"You may have weapons but how do you know they'll be effective against anything here?"

"I really don't. But if we just sit here all day we'll still be vulnerable."

Ratchet's eyes were looking up at Faas who took his hand away from the Lombax's shoulder. His head cocked to the side noticing that the vines were still coming down from the tree near them. Suddenly his expression became more unhappy as his ears went down seeing something unfortunate happening to his ship.

"My ship…," Ratchet said exasperated.

The Remilien turned around to see the local flora crawling around the ground and onto the ship. He stepped backward and watched the vines latch onto the smoking wreckage and continue to grow around it.

"Your… ship…"

The Lombax was helpless do too much of anything for his broken ship. It didn't matter much anyway. It was in a wreck to begin with. He heaved a great sigh and stared back up at Faas.

"I suggest we go somewhere else, because I have a really good feeling if we stay here we'll be eaten alive by a plant," he emphasized with a stern face.

The alien continued to back away as he watched the ship get slowly dragged away. When they were in a safer spot, Ratchet took off the backpack he wore behind him and handed it to Faas.

"Could you hold onto this? I need Clank on my back. The floor of the forest is probably alive, too, and I really don't want him to disappear."

"Sure…," he answered fixating on the ship and taking the backpack.

Clank hopped onto Ratchet's back soon after.

"Don't lose that bag, it has Femka's stuff in it," he stressed starting into the forest.

"Right…"

The most of the truck through the dense jungle was fine. Strange noises continued to sound all around them. It was imperative to watch where they were steeping. The plants were more than alive and animated. Weird creatures loomed above, small rodents or reptiles hung in the trees. Faas witnessed one such creature leap right into its doom by accident. A plant swallowed the critter whole when it landed onto its vines. His face cringed and he kept his weapon close by, his finger was ready on the trigger.

• • •

"Is Fortum still considered a part of Reiggel?" Femka asked sitting in the front passenger seat of Gallo's ship.

"No. It's outside our galaxy but it's still monitored and governed by Reiggel's federation."

"Even though there's nothing on it?"

"Oh, no. There's stuff on it alright. It's full of life, just unintelligent life. And criminals—if they're alive."

Femka sat back in her chair feeling uneasy about the whole conversation. She couldn't stop thinking about Ratchet and Clank, if something terrible happened or not, or if they even survived the crash landing. Her arms covered her unsettling stomach and she frowned looking out the window at passing ships and stars around them. Gallo glanced back through the holes of her mask at the nervous woman next to her.

"Are you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah," she sighed quickly.

Gallo looked away keeping her hands firm on the controls. They already made their purchases of weapons back at a local Grummel Net store and the goods were sitting on the seats behind them. Femka never used a gun in her life and Gallo wasn't a good shot. She hoped they wouldn't actually need them. The masked woman had her own set of anxiety as well. They were about to fly into a potential suicide mission as they flew back to the wasteland of a planet. The two were silent until Gallo broke the quiet with a question.

"So," she abruptly said, "are you and that Lombax a couple or something?"

Femka immediately turned her head with a taken aback expression.

"You kissed."

"We're not exactly an item," she exhaled shyly looking away again.

"It is cute," she said.

Femka glanced over to the pilot with her eyes only feeling awkward at her statement.

"Well, it is." She laughed lightly. "I saw his face after you kissed him, when you ran into my ship. I think he likes you."

"Are you teasing me or something?" Femka said unhappy.

"No, I'm serious."

"What makes you think that?"

"What? That he likes you? He broke someone out of jail for you. I think that's a pretty good indicator that he cares about you."

Femka stared at her lap with the smallest bit of blush slowly begin to consume her face.

"And like I said; his face was exuberant."

"Why are you talking to me about this?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation."

Femka sighed and stared at Gallo for a moment.

"It doesn't matter anyway if he likes me or not. When I go home I won't be able to see him again." She turned her head away again. "It'd be pointless of me to pursue anything with him."

"I don't think so. I'd make the most of what you have while you still have the chance."

The young woman's hair fell to the sides of her face when she looked down again. She couldn't say anything back to Gallo. She just pondered about what she said last. Her eyes returned to the mysterious woman and then again to her twiddling fingers on her lap. The rest of the way back to Fortum they were silent and Femka just let her thoughts run wild. She saw the small planet becoming larger over time as they flew fast towards. It was the size of a fingerprint on the windshield by now. The only thing Femka could think of was if Ratchet and Clank were alright or not. Of course she wanted to tell him how she felt but she couldn't do that if he wasn't alive. That made her sick in her stomach just imagining something like that. She tried to stay positive but what she was about to get herself into would make thinking like that a little more difficult. Within less than a half an hour they were close to Fortum. The dark planet loomed before them, the satellites that plated some of the globe like a ring orbited slowly.

"What exactly are those things for?" Femka's voice pointed to the metal plates circling the planet.

"They're there to monitor life on Fortum. I don't really know much about this planet, though. All I know is that it's the last place you'd want to be. It's like I mentioned before; this place is extremely hostile. Whoever watches over the planet's environment doesn't want anything leaving it."

"Then how're we going to land if it's being watched?"

"Getting in is easy, Femka. I may have said that they don't want people to leave but they could care less if you enter at your own risk, considering no one makes it out alive anyway."

Femka's view drifted from the pilot and to the purple abyss ahead. They glided right past and underneath one of the massive satellites. The woman stared in awe at it as it consumed the ship in its shadow. One of them was the size of a city it seemed. They were huge! The ship drifted downward through the clouds. Gallo was looking at her comm-link and trying to connect with Ratchet's but the signal was getting interrupted.

"I can't lock onto his signal." She grunted. "Those stupid things are messing up my computer's navigational units."

Gallo gripped at the controls mildly frustrated as the ship hovered through the thick clouds. They were over a range of mountains and as Femka looked out her window she could see several larger creatures flying around over them. This place looked prehistoric. Her ears tuned into the high-pitched beeping sound from Gallo's communicator as the woman continuously tried to reach to others.

"What're we gonna do if you can't reach them?"

"I don't know. We'll have to land. Maybe I can get a signal from the ground."

Her hands pushed forward on the controls and the ship began to descend quickly. There wasn't much room to land below. The area was covered in rocks and uneven surfaces. Gallo decided to let the ship go further over a jungle that was coming up—the same jungle Faas and the others were traveling through. Unfortunately, they were going the other way and the others by now were reaching the outskirts of the questionable forest.

Ratchet's comm-link was going on and off from Gallo's attempts to reach him; but it just wouldn't go through all the way. His hand reached for the small, round device and inspected it with a tilt of his head while walking through some foliage around them.

"Ratchet, where are even going?" Faas inquired swatting a vine away from his shoulder.

"I honestly couldn't tell you. Hey…" His voice rose in curiosity and discovery as he ran through the forest ahead of Faas.

"Hey! Wait!" The Remilien ran after him and panted catching up to him after a moment. "Why did you run off?" He paused looking out at the world in front of him.

"We're out of the forest," Ratchet said turning his head back to the confused alien behind him.

It was just like that. The forest abruptly ended. Before them was a vast and seemingly endless valley with mountain silhouettes in the far beyond. The ground was perfectly flat but steam rose from the ground as spouts in periodic bursts hissing loudly. The purple ground was cracked all over allowing the hot air to escape through it.

"We can't walk across this," Faas announced with a lift of his arm and point of his hand. "That steam is probably over two-hundred degrees."

"Do you suggest we walk around it?"

"No, I suggest we find another alternative route."

"Where? Back in the forest?" Ratchet's brow perked.

"I don't really see any other options. Besides, we don't even have a destination. We're just aimlessly walking. So, why walk across a valley of hot geysers that has no end?"

"It has an end—it's just really far." He shrugged. "Furthermore, I'm not going back into that deathtrap." Ratchet grimaced. "And you were the one who was scared of it the most earlier. Why would you go back in?"

"Because at least in the jungle there was more than just steam and rocks!"

"Yeah, and I really don't see anything else that's more deadly than that out here!"

"Must we argue?" Clank interrupted with a sigh.

"Yes, because your Lombax friend is suicidal!" Faas scoffed.

"Really? You really have the audacity to say I'm the suicidal one when you want to go back in there and get consumed by a flower or a tree? You saw what happened to my ship!" Ratchet glared and slumped his shoulders. "I'm going this way. Do what you want. I'll find Arlis on my own."

The Remilien jeered and watched Ratchet start into the valley. He bit his tongue and groaned standing there for a moment until he finally swallowed his pride running after the mechanic. Ratchet was currently watching the ground closely in front of him trying to step out of the way every time vapor was discharged from below. He could feel the heat when the steam would pass by his face or tail. Faas was forced to do the same following behind Ratchet. His dark red ears twitched every time the ground rumbled. Walking across these hot, flat lands was making him more nervous by the minute, not to mention that the surface was pretty hot as well. His bare feet were feeling the wear of all the walking that they had been doing so far. His head looked up at the sky above. The place was covered in a thick blanket of clouds and the sky was dark. It was hard to tell the time of day but it was still broad daylight. A fountain of steam jet directly past the two in a line that went back as far as the jungle behind them. Faas followed the spray until it disappeared and his chest fell with a heavy sigh that followed subsequently after. The ground shook again and far off in front of them the mountains looked like they were shooting out volcanic emissions. They couldn't stop now. They had already walked so far. The forest behind them was now getting smaller and soon it was just a bold line on the horizon after hours of walking. They were approaching the mountains finally and the ground started to become less flat and more rocky. There were springs around them now and some green life grew around them. Faas wiped his forehead of some sweat that gathered there from the heat. Once again the ground growled beneath them as the mountains in front of them erupted slowly gushing out hot molten rock.

"This is not a good idea," the Remilien stated stopping in his tracks. "We're going up this mountain?"

"It's not that bad," Ratchet said with a small smile and looked up ahead with mild hesitation. "Well, maybe we should stop for now."

He scratched the back of his neck and wondered over to one of the hot springs. The rock was all shades of purple and red. He peered into it looking at the endless abyss inside. The water occasionally bubbled and he pulled his head away remembering what he was looking at. The mechanic didn't want to be around when that thing erupted. He decided upon sitting on a rock that looked safe enough and wasn't very hot to the touch. Faas did the same only with a heavy sigh.

"Arlis was your uncle; if he was alive, where do you think he would be?" Ratchet glanced over at the tired alien.

"Well, he was always so secretive. If he is still alive and on this planet, I'd have to say that maybe he'd be somewhere underground. You know, just because it's safer and no one would find you there. Maybe like a cave." He shook his head. "C'mon, Ratchet, this is useless. This place is too big. I mean, it's huge! And looking all over Fortum for a guy that we're not even sure is alive or not, it just… it's fruitless!"

"We'll find him…"

Ratchet lowered his head and put his chin in his palm to think. He wouldn't say it aloud but he was having second thoughts himself. Faas could be right—as a matter of fact he _was_ practically right to begin with. Arlis Marlow might be dead by now and looking for a dead man on a gigantic wasteland of a planet was incredibly unproductive. What else was there though? The drive to continue onward was diminishing for Ratchet. He flipped open his comm-link and stared at the screen with a dull expression. His face changed to something more meticulous as he stared intently at the device in front of him and stood up after a beeping sound went off. Faas looked at the Lombax with concern and a deep stare wondering what his problem was.

"Do you hear that?"

"What, your beeping?"

"Yeah! It's beeping."

"So? It was beeping earlier." His eyes shifted back and forth puzzled.

"Yeah, I know, but it was a different kind of beep. This beep means that I've locked onto someone's signal on this planet. Someone has a comm-link active."

The man stood up as well and examined the small, beeping device as well.

"Oh, my god… Can you track it?"

"Yeah, my communicator has the signal's origin." He pressed another button on his device and uploaded the signal to his nav-unit. "There. It's not that far. I guess it was close enough that the satellites didn't interfere. That, or we just had a stroke of luck."

The Lombax didn't wait around for Faas to make the decision to follow him or not through spoken words. Instead, he began in a quick run to the source of the signal. The red alien hurried behind him trying not to stumble over the rocks that were protruding from the hot ground. Ratchet began going up the pile of rocks tripping occasionally from trying move faster than his feet would allow him. He climbed higher and higher against the steep mountain. The signal, according to his nav-unit, was either coming from the other side of the mountain or inside it. Regardless of the danger, he pressed on. Once more the ground was shaking. It was starting to feel somewhat unstable—not that it was very stable to begin with. Faas fell forward and landed on his knees holding onto a group of rocks to the right side of him so he wouldn't tumble down all the way to the bottom.

"Ratchet!" he called out with concern. "I think something terrible's happening!"

The mechanic leaned into the mountain holding onto something as well as the place insisted on shaking and rumbling.

"I cannot see ahead of us, but I believe this mountain is ready to erupt," Clank surmised.

Ratchet looked ahead up the mountain able to see spurts of lava shooting from the top. But it was doing that earlier as well. The mechanic squinted his eyes seeing something coming down the mountain. The rocks were splitting in half as hot steam began bursting out of it. The Remilien was able to see beyond Ratchet what was coming their way. His heard turned around to see the ground far away below them and quickly turned it back in horror having no resolve for the awful circumstance. His eyes were wide as the rocks suddenly split around them and crumbled underneath their feet forcing them to fall hopelessly to their death. The rocks surrounded them as they all dropped inside the mountain. The hot air that passed them as they fell was like fire in the eyes. The fall felt like forever until finally they all hit the ground with a crushing thud. Ratchet lost consciousness and Faas was barely awake lying on his back staring up with half-opened eyes at the small light that came from the hole they fell through. Clank was the only one who was unharmed and functional. The robot unclasped himself from Ratchet's back and pushed whatever debris was on top of him, running to the front and attempting to wake him. Clank was unsuccessful and glanced around the area they were in. It was some cavern underneath the volcanic mountain. He could see springs around them. The temperature of the cavern was humid and like a sauna. Clank ventured over to Faas who lay semi-conscious several feet from Ratchet and removed the small rocks off him as well. The Remilien looked at the small, worried robot and slowly moved his hand to his head. It hurt to touch. His eyes shut at the sharp pain. His body ached and he was certain he broke something in the fall. Faas tried to sit up taking deep breaths and gritting his teeth at the pain that followed.

"Where are we…?" he grunted after a moment of trying to sit up.

"We appear to be in some sort of passageway within the mountain's interior. I cannot wake Ratchet. I fear that he may have a concussion. And what of you, Mister Faas? Are you okay?" His green eyes stared concerned at the man.

"I can't feel my left arm… I think it's broken…" He grunted again letting the limb be limp. "Aside from my head and arm, I think I'm okay… Oh." His gaze turned to the backpack that was no longer on his back but a couple feet in front of him. "That's still in one piece…"

Faas's weapon was nowhere to be found. A rock from the fall probably smashed it to bits. Ratchet's navigational unit was still blinking and beeping from where his body lay. Clank turned his head noticing the beeping was more frequent.

"What're we gonna do? We're stuck down here and your friend's unconscious and it's his entire fault."

"Please do not blame him. His intention was not for this to happen to you." He frowned. "I can see another tunnel further down into this cavern. I am certain that there is a way out." His head looked up to the hole above them. "If I could fly I would gladly lead us out, however, I am not strong enough to carry either of you out of here."

Faas examined the tunnel before them as he sat in his spot breathing heavily. His black hair fell against his face in a mess and some blood trickled down his nostril. He wiped his nose with his right hand and stared at Ratchet who was still unconscious.

"His communicator is beeping fast."

"Whatever he had tracked must be here in this cavern."

"God, it could be anything…"

Clank looked up at the weary alien and glanced back at the tunnel.

"I will go ahead and search the area," he stated walking back over to Ratchet and taking his comm-link from off of his belt. He felt his mechanical heart sink as he saw a small stream of blood dribble down his friend's forehead. "I will upload Ratchet's data of the item he was tracking to my system and leave his comm-link with you." Clank walked over to Faas after entering the proper numbers into his database and presented the small device to the red alien. "I would like you to watch over him, please," he said sadly holding out the communication device.

The Remilien took the mechanism slowly and frowned holding it in his hand.

"He's… not dead…, is he?"

"No." Clank's head shook lightly. "But you must keep an eye on him. While I am gone, try to wake him up."

"I'll try…"

Clank nodded putting his trust in the stranger and began down the corridor of the hot cavern. Seeing in the perpetual dark wasn't a problem for the small being. His eyes could scrutinize the cave without a problem. He walked hearing the sounds of dripping water and also the infrequent rumbling that was happening below him deeper within the mountain. It was the same visuals throughout his walk; springs colorful rocks and the like. The tunnel seemed endless. He kept in tune, however, to his navigational unit as the beeps continued to speed up every fifteen minutes or so.

Faas looked at the tunnel Clank had walked down over an hour ago and sighed through his blood-crusted nose sitting next to the unconscious Lombax. He had tried waking him up earlier by pouring small amounts of water on his face or by nudging him. Nothing seemed to do the trick, though. He was out like a light. The Remilien once again looked at the body beside him and pushed open one of Ratchet's eyelids with his fingers to see the eye rolled in the back of his head. The sight gave him chills, forcing his fingers to move away quickly and let the eyelid shut. He remembered Ratchet bringing other provisions with him and rummaged through his pockets and bags (even Femka's bag) to if there was anything that might be able to help. He tried to look for some smelling salts or something with ammonia that would force Ratchet awake. He didn't recognize something that fit that description, unfortunately, and stopped sifting through the bags. He figured it was best to try and get his helmet off and check the wound on his forehead. It was a challenge for having only one functioning arm but he moved Ratchet's heavy cranium onto his lap and undid his helmet which only had his other brown hat underneath. He could see the injury reaching up to the Lombax's crown. The blood stopped but Faas tried to put some sort of bandage on it to keep it protected. He took off Ratchet's aviator hat and frustratingly attempted to tie a bandage around his head. His legs moved around to try and adjust the mechanic's weight against him and to position his head so that the bandages would wrap around right. They kept falling every now and again causing the Remilien to curse and grunt. Finally he managed to secure the cloth around Ratchet's injured head and laid the man on the ground as he tried to fix whatever small cuts and wounds he had of his own. Every time the ground shook he became even more paranoid. Faas stared at the comm-link and watched Clank's signal go further from their location. He noticed something interesting after a while of just looking at the thing and wondering what the text said. There was another blinking light in the opposite direction of Clank. His head tilted a little wondering what it was.

"I wonder if that's a preset for the ship's location," he pondered aloud. "Maybe this thing has a HelpDesk or something."

His fingers fiddled around with the buttons. The text the device was defaulted in was a language Faas didn't read or speak. He frustratingly tried to figure out where the language settings were and gave up with a sigh.

"Do you have a HelpDesk?" he asked the small machine.

"HelpDesk is currently on silent mode," a female voice responded from the comm-link. "Would you like to change the settings from silent mode to on?"

"Yes?"

"HelpDesk is now audible."

"Who's that flashing light? Do you know the serial number?"

"My directly lists the serial number as F-E-M."

"F-E-M?" he reiterated confused. "Who's… Fem…? Femka? That woman he was talking about before… She's here? Call F-E-M," he demanded to the device.

"The connection is poor. Would you still like me to dial?"

"Yes, yes, hurry!"

Gallo had already landed the ship on the other side of the jungle where the trio's ship had crashed. The masked woman was able to get a clearer signal when she finally did land the ship on sturdy ground. Her computer showed the coordinates of where Ratchet's busted ship had previously landed when they were near the planet hours ago. She didn't know that it was no longer there, unfortunately. Femka sat restlessly in her chair looking at the dark environment around them. She was startled by the sound of her communicator beeping a peculiar tune. She stared down at her belt and saw a message flashing in holographic display. It was Ratchet's number. The woman gasped causing Gallo to turn her head to the woman's reaction as she fumbled with the device to answer it.

"Hello?" she said rather quickly. "Ratchet, is that you?"

"It's Faas," the voice said back.

Femka was confused but Gallo moved closer to Femka and took the device without permission relieved that her friend was alive.

"Faas!" Her voice shook and the module that transformed it was disabled. "You're okay…!"

"Yeah, I'm fine… It's good to hear you again, Gallo…"

"Where are you? Are you in the ship?"

"No. We left the jungle and the ship behind. It's actually n—the- -more. We're across some long stretch of land and we're trapped underground… Ratchet's with me but he's -. The little robot we- ah- to look for a si- we've b- fol-."

Faas's words continued to be cut-off as he spoke.

"What? I can't understand you. Faas? Hello?"

The signal finally was disconnected. Gallo sighed heavily looking at the device and handed in back to Femka. The signal was gone off of the comm-link when Femka looked down at it. They had the most vague of information to go off of in order to find their friends. What bothered Femka was that she didn't hear what Faas said about Ratchet. She could only guess what was going on and that frightened her the most. Gallo put her hands on the controls of the ship and started the engine again as she cursed under her breath.

"Fucking planet," she bit her lip.

"What're we doing?"

"We're gonna fly around again and try to get back that signal. Keep redialing his number."

Femka glanced at the comm-link and continued to press the button to dial Ratchet's number repeatedly as the ship began to fly through the air once more. Gallo only had the clue that Faas gave: some long stretch of land. That wasn't helpful. She remembered seeing many long stretches of land in all directions outside the jungle. She just had to pick a direction and fly around until they found the signal again. Doing that just seemed to piss the woman off, though. But it was all that she could do for now.

The Remilien who waited back in the deep cavern, however, only stared at the communicator with disappointment. He felt stupid for not being more clear in explaining their location. He was caught up in hearing his friend's voice. He clutched the device with anger and gritted his teeth at the resurfacing pain that his arm was bringing. Unfortunately, Clank's location was now lost as well when he looked again. He rested his back against a rock and stared up at the hole in the mountain above his head and closed his eyes. This day was going on long enough.

Clank, meanwhile, was still traveling in the tunnels underground. There was a point where he came to a fork but continued along the path that he thought was best. His good judgment was only bringing him closer to the signal. Unfortunately for him, it had faded out as well. It left Clank discouraged but he continued down the pathway. The rumbling persisted but where he was it didn't seem quite as violent. At a point there was a light up ahead, a small light. His eyes maximized with expectation and he hurried along seeing the light grow. His eyes adjusted being able to tell that it wasn't the sun but rather artificial light. Curious. He stopped running as he came to the light finally that was hanging from the low ceiling of the cave. It swayed lightly back and forth as if someone had touched it recently. It was fire burning brightly in a makeshift lantern. Clank's head cocked to the side and he stared down the tunnel seeing more of these lights hanging from the walls or ceiling. His small legs carried him down the tunnel until once again there was another fork. One fork was lit somewhat and the other had a greater light coming from inside. Clank could make out sounds as well, like someone was walking about. He braved to enter further trying to be quiet and to not upset whatever was further inside the cave. After all, someone seemed to have made residence here and it could be something… unpleasant. Clank kept all possibilities in mind. His eyes couldn't help but examine everything he walked passed. It seemed like whoever was living in this cave decided to make the place as homey as possible. Clank passed by what he assumed to be a makeshift stool or place to sit and a pile of roughly cut wood. On the ground was the fur and skin of some creature being used like some kind of mat. Before Clank was a man several feet ahead with his back turned. He was sitting at his crudely made table mumbling to himself as a light burned by him. His hair was long and tied back into a ponytail. His clothes were tattered and torn and he wore no shoes. The small robot cocked his head trying to make his assumptions while still going unnoticed. His skin was red from what he could see. It was very possible that the man in front of him was Arlis Marlow.

"Excuse me," he broke the ice.

The man jolted a turn of his head back and stared with fear at the small robot. His eyes were tired and his face was old. He looked unclean and like he hadn't seen a barber in years—for that matter a bathtub.

"Who are you?" he said in an old, shaken voice.

"I am Clank. May I ask who you are?"

"I… You're not… Are you a convict?" He slowly stepped away from his makeshift desk.

"Certainly not." His head shook.

The man narrowed his eyes trying to get a better look at the tiny, mechanical being.

"What are you doing here?"

"Our ship has crashed in the jungle. We were making our way over this mountain following a signal from a communicator until we fell through. My communicator brought me through most of this cavern."

"A communicator?" The old man looked back to his work area and grabbed an old device similar to Ratchet's or Femka's and held it in his hand.

"Yes. I believe I was following your signal."

"You found my signal?" he said amazed staring still at the old comm-link. "Incredible." He looked down at the robot and kneeled to his level. "You said your name is Clank? I'm Arlis."

"I have surmised." He smiled feeling successful in his search.

"You have?" His eyes blinked but a smile came to his aging face.

"Yes. Mr. Marlow, we came to this planet on accident but regardless we were searching for you. We need your help."

"My help? But what can I do? I've been stuck here for years. You can't get off this planet. It's a dumping place for people like me… or worse than me, if that's possible." His eyes stared at the ground solemnly.

"I am afraid I must disagree. We will find a way off of this planet and we intend to bring you with us."

"I can't leave…" Arlis stood up slowly. "I've messed up too much to ever go back. I've been banished, that's why I'm here, Clank." The elderly man walked back to his desk and sat down again. "I know no one will ever forgive me for what I've done..."

Clank looked sympathetically over at the hunched, old man before speaking again.

"There is someone with us I think you should see, Mister Marlow. I am not here to waste your time but I do believe you should at least come with me for the moment. It is not very far."

Arlis sighed and cleared his throat. He sat there for a moment until turning his head to view Clank. He slowly got up and walked over to a section of his cave to grab a walking stick. He sighed again. What did he have to lose?

"Alright. You can show me."

"Thank you."

Back in the hot cavern Faas still looked at the communication link in his hand. He stared up at the same hole he'd been looking at for well over an hour. A sound grabbed his attention, however. Ratchet who lay next to him was finally starting to wake up. His eyes shut in tightly and small whimper escaped his mouth. Faas sat up straight and crawled closer to Ratchet noticing his movements and sounds.

"Ratchet? Ratchet?"

The Lombax opened his eyes slowly seeing the blur that was the Remilien slouched above him. His hand instinctively reached for the injury on his head but Faas stopped him.

"Don't touch that. You hit your head really hard."

"What?" he said half awake.

"We fell through the mountain and you hit your head." He paused. "Do you remember anything?"

"Yeah…" He released an exhale which expressed his pain before he tried to sit up.

"Be careful."

Faas helped as best as he could with his free arm at helped Ratchet to prop against the rocks behind him. His head was spinning. It felt like something was lodged between his eyes and over the bridge of his nose. The mechanic glanced tiredly around the tunnel finally feeling the bandage on his head and seeing his hat and helmet on the ground.

"Where's Clank?" he asked becoming more aware.

"He went off into that tunnel over there. He decided to follow the signal that you had tracked on your comm-link." Faas handed the Lombax his device back. "I think Gallo and your lady friend are here somewhere. I was able to speak with them about an hour or something ago. But… the signal got cutoff. They don't know where we are…"

"But you spoke to them?" He said holding the side of his head with a grimace.

"Yeah." Faas looked down. "Ratchet, listen, I'm… I'm sorry about this."

"Sorry?" He stared at the Remilien and frowned. "Nothing's your fault. If anything, you should blame physics, because we fell… I'm sorry. I don't feel very coherent. I also see two of you…"

"I'm not feeling so good myself…"

Faas mustered a small smile. But his smile disappeared and he was silent. It was hard to concentrate of the rumbling of the mountain but he could've sworn there was loud sound coming from outside. It grabbed his attention back to the hole that he kept peering out through. His ears perked on the sides of his head and stood up slowly. Ratchet watched him still trying to gain his bearings.

"Ratchet… do you hear that?" he said walking closer underneath the hole.

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like… it sounds like a ship."

Ratchet staggered to his feet and motioned toward Faas to listen for the sound. Every other noise coming from the mountain's activity was a little hard to hear over but Ratchet's big ears picked up the sound he knew well. It was a ship. It was Gallo's ship. They couldn't see it but they could hear it as it drifted through the air breaking through the wind.

"Oh my god it's a ship…"

The mechanic patted the sides of his pants and belt frantically looking for something that would grab the ship's attention. He took out one of his guns and pointed it up at the hole and began firing.

Across the firmament, Gallo could see a stream of bright lights shooting into the sky out of the corner of her eye. She quickly steered the ship toward it. Femka looked over to the woman and out the window in front of her to see the lasers flying into the air.

"Do you think it's them?"

"I'm pretty sure. I don't think anyone else was brought here with a weapon," she said rather ironic.

Gallo sent a shot of ammunition from her ship in equal hopes that the others could see it as well. Ratchet's firing stopped for a moment and then persisted. Gallo knew at that instant they were communicating and continued to fly fast toward the shots. They quickly arrived over the volcanic mountain and the woman could see through her mask where the lasers were coming from exactly. She fired another shot and waited for the return fire to desist so she could fly closer to the area. Ratchet looked up from the cavern, as did Faas, and they could very clearly hear the loudness of Gallo's ship. The ship slowly began to hover over the large opening above and the two felt instant liberation knowing that they would be rescued. Above, Gallo left the ship to hover and quickly ran to the back of the vessel to open a panel on the side of the wall. Her fingers pressed at a series of buttons until the floor in the middle of the ship started to open revealed the hole where Ratchet and Faas were. The masked woman pressed another button as a small lift that was located in the furthermost back end of the shuttle moved forward on a tract and slid over the hole. It was like a little metal basket that acted as a shaft to let things in so they could go up or down from and to the ship.

"Get on."

Femka hurried onto the object as Gallo pressed another button while getting on as well and the device lowered slowly taking them into the hole. It wasn't able to reach them, however. The elevator could only travel so far. When it stopped Femka was finally able to see her friend again. They were only separated for a few hours but it was long enough for her. Her face lit up seeing the mechanic but frowned when she noticed the bandage on his forehead. Her eyes searched the area looking for Clank but she couldn't see him either. She also noticed Faas's condition as well. His arm was just limp. It looked like it was practically out of its socket. Gallo, meanwhile, had planned ahead by bringing a metal chain with her and attaching it to one of the bars of the shaft. She threw done the heavy link and it barely dangled above Faas's head.

"I don't know if I can climb this!" he called out grabbing the chain with his only working arm.

"You have to try!" Gallo said back.

Ratchet looked at Faas and then back up. The climb was about twenty feet or so. His eyes glanced back at the injured man.

"If you can hang onto me I'll climb us both back up."

The Remilien wasn't too sure of the plan but it was all they really had.

"I won't be too heavy for you?"

"I've carried a lot of interesting things in my life. It won't be that difficult."

Ratchet reached for the chain and held onto it with both of his hands. He was already standing on the tips of his toes and he looked at Faas letting him he was ready. The red alien wrapped his arm around Ratchet's neck and his legs then wrapped around his waist. The sight alone was embarrassing enough. The Lombax grunted trying to pull himself upward as his arms shook form the weight he now carried. His hand inched up the chain until his feet were finally off of the ground. His head was pounding and his teeth were clamped as he continued pulling him and Faas up the chain. Finally his feet reached the end of the metal link and his shoes attempted to clasp onto the loops to help push him upward. His head looked upward at the two women that stood on the small shaft.

"Pull up the chin!"

Immediately the two got to work pulling on the metal rope. Femka stood behind Gallo as they both grabbed at it pulling the excess chain behind them. Ratchet clung as best as he could as the rope began to sway more and more as the two pulled up. There was about a five minute struggle until finally Ratchet grabbed onto the lift and dragged himself against his stomach on the metal floor and Faas slid off standing to his own two feet and helping the mechanic up soon after. Gallo was instantly in an embrace with Faas. It had been a long time since something like that had happened. She couldn't believe he was there standing before her. And he was alive. She finally had him again. She stared up at him through the holes of her mask. Even Faas could see the tears gathering around her eyes as the light hit them. He hugged her again tightly as he could and closed his eyes. Femka smiled at the two. She was just as glad as they were that finally they could meet again. Her glance turned over to Ratchet who seemed to be starting to climb back down the rope. She went over to the edge quickly and grabbed onto his arm.

"What're you doing?"

"I need to find Clank. I'm not going anywhere without him."

"Ratchet, you're hurt…"

"It's not that bad. I'll be alright. I won't take long. I promise."

"You make a lot of promises."

"Femka…"

"Just be careful…" She let go of his arm and stepped back.

Ratchet stared at her for a moment but proceeded down the chain. He landed on the ground with a small thud and his eyes caught a glimpse of the items that were left behind on the ground. He gathered up his hat and helmet and also Femka's backpack. He looked back up Femka after putting on his aviator hat but the woman looked at her feet. He frowned turning around and started into a sprint down the dark tunnel.

"Clank?" he called out only hearing his echo travel and fade. "Clank!"

Ratchet continued to call out his name and run down the dark corridor. He looked at his comm-link hoping that he could catch a signal or something but there was no reception. After running for about ten or so minutes he finally reached the fork that Clank had first encountered. He stopped and looked back and forth between the two passageways.

"Clank!" he called out again as loud as he could.

Up ahead the robot tilted his big, metal cranium and he ceased walking with the old man that accompanied him. Arlis may have been elderly but his ears still could pick up the sound of someone yelling. He stared down at the robot and then back at the tunnel and called out to Ratchet.

"Hello!"

The Lombax twitched his ears high upon hearing some voice call back. It was faint but it didn't sound like Clank. It was still hard to determine which passageway it was coming from.

"Clank!" he called out again.

The small robot recognized the voice and looked up at Arlis.

"I do not mean to rush you, Mister Marlow, but I believe that the voice which is calling us is my friend, Ratchet. Perhaps we should hurry?"

"Alright but I'm not that fast on my feet. Time has been pretty cruel to me…"

Despite what the old man said he hurried as quickly as he could alongside Clank. The two continued to yell out to Ratchet who waited by the fork. The voices were clearer and the mechanic could tell which way they were coming from. His ears perked when he heard Clank's voice. Up ahead he could see a light. It was flickering. Arlis was carrying a small lantern in his hand and his quickened pace was moving the flame about.

"Clank, is that you?" he called out running towards the light.

He could see his friend up ahead walking with some other man and he stopped several feet away from them when he finally could see them both clearly. Clank proceeded forward and the robot smiled up to his friend when he stood in front of him. Ratchet looked down and then back to the man who was still a few feet away.

"Who's that?"

"Why, this is Mister Marlow, Ratchet. He is the man whom of which we were searching for."

One of Ratchet's eyes squinted and his head tilted confused.

"He's alive?"

"Clearly, as he stands behind me. Where is Faas?"

"He's back on Gallo's ship. They found us." Ratchet smiled lightly.

Arlis's eyes widened at the sound of the names that came from Ratchet's mouth. He could swear that his ears were deceiving him.

"What… did you just say…?" His words were slow and quiet.

Clank turned around.

"That is why I wanted you to come with me, Mister Marlow. They are waiting for us."

"Faas and Gallo?" His hand reached up to his chest and his fingers grabbed and bundled the cloth tightly. "I… I don't know… I could never let my nephew see me… not after all that I put him through."

"Please, Arlis, you have to come with us. It's important." Ratchet pleaded. His hand sifted through his clothing and pulled out the necklace Femka had let him borrow and let it dangle under his hand as it still stayed secure around his neck. "Look."

Arlis saw the glimmer of the stone and recognized it instantly.

"Yeah. It belongs to a friend of mine. She needs your help. The story's long but because of this thing she can't get home. We thought that you'd be the only one who would know how to help her. I guarantee I'll tell you everything if you please come with us."

He sighed looking beyond Ratchet and down the tunnel of the dimly lit cave. His expression was somewhat blank and worried. Arlis shut his eyes and sighed again with a cough that gave away his old age.

"I'll hear you out, Ratchet. It's no life living in a cave," he shrugged.

"Thanks."

The mechanic turned around and started hurrying in the direction he came from as Clank and Arlis followed closely behind. Gallo was inside the ship tending to Faas's broken arm and Femka waited on the shaft alone for Ratchet to return. Finally, she could him emerge. Clank was right behind him and some other guy? Her eyes squinted to see who it was but she had no idea. Her eyes widened thinking of the possibility and she quickly threw down the chain. Clank was the first to surface up to the ship by means of his helipack and landed beside Femka who could only great him a hug and smile. The elderly man looked up at the long climb above him.

"Can you make it up?" Ratchet asked looking at the man.

"I don't know but I'll try…"

"I'll be right behind you."

The alien dropped his cane and put down the rickety lantern and grabbed a hold of the chain that dangled in front of him. He attempted to pull himself up but fumbled at first. After a second attempt he was able to lift himself up at his own pace. When the chain was longer than his body Ratchet began to climb as well. Femka watched from above and helped pull the old timer up onto the platform and Ratchet climbed on a moment later. Arlis breathed deeply and looked at the young lady with gratitude.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'm fine…"

"Are you ready?" Ratchet asked Arlis manning the lift's controls.

"There's only one way to find out."

The mechanic pressed a button on the control panel and the shaft slowly ascended into the ship that lingered above. Faas's arm was in a sling and his injuries were re-patched with better material that was aboard Gallo's ship. The Remilien turned his head over to the crew that was entering the ship. His eyes fixated on the tattered man that stood in the middle of the lift. As he stared so did Arlis. He knew his own kin and quickly established that his nephew really was there. Thousands upon thousands of thoughts traveled through his brain all at once. He couldn't speak. It amazed him to see that Faas was really standing there. He wasn't in jail, he was right there. Gallo knew who the man was already. She stayed in her seat and turned away clutching the controls of the ship tightly. Arlis stepped out of the lift as did the other three. But there was still the awkward silence that flooded the small room. Faas's lips parted and a small voice spoke out.

"You're… It's you… You're alive…" He continued to stare.

Arlis stared at his flesh and blood but couldn't look him in the eyes. The overwhelming guilt and shame seized him where he stood. Ratchet looked back and forth between the two having taken a seat with Femka and noticed Gallo preparing the ship for takeoff. He remembered the story Faas told him hours ago. Even though he couldn't see her face he knew the angst that she harbored for Arlis must have manifested greatly over the years. It was no surprise why she didn't look back.

"I suggest everyone sits down and holds on," Gallo said breaking Faas away from his uncle. "I know a planet that's good for getting away. Hang on."

Her voice was monotone and low. Faas took wise to her words and sat down in his chair. Arlis sat across from him with Femka and the others. It was hard to speak to anyone. Gallo was flying the ship fast so suddenly and the tension was nearly explosive between them in such a small space. Femka clung for dear life to her friend who felt her fear and let her grasp onto him as the ship winded upward and spat fast through the dark clouds in the sky. Ratchet looked over at Gallo and stood up from his seat. Femka watched him having no choice but to let him go and he gave her a gesture with his index finger to say, "one minute". He scuttled his way to the front of the ship and sat beside Gallo.

"Hi. So, what's your plan?"

"Hurry past these stupid metal things and fly to the getaway planet. Do you have a problem?"

"Well, I was just wondering what exactly's going to happen when we fly past these satellites?"

"They'll probably alert whoever's in charge of monitoring them. Someone from our Galactic Federation. I don't know."

Ratchet sighed looking ahead through the window. Now would be a perfect time to use his cloaking device. Unfortunately, his nice ship was consumed by a greedy, vicious plant. The mechanic left the seat and went back over to Femka and Clank. The young translator shifted her glasses and looked at the Lombax.

"Are we going to be chased again?" she said quietly.

"Probably. Except by more aggressive authority."

Femka groaned holding her stomach as the ship flew upward. What was more aggressive than the authority that chased Ratchet earlier? She shuddered to think. None of the metal plates happened to be orbiting around their path. The masked woman took the opportunity and charged the small vessel directly through the atmosphere as fast as she could. Arlis watched as he could see space for the first time in years. It was bliss and hypnotizing at the same time. He never thought this would happen—but it was. Although Gallo's flying was questionable, Faas was still blankly staring at his uncle. The whole mood of the ship was a mess of feelings. Despite all the mental chaos, the ship was free from the planet, which surprised Ratchet immensely. He was expecting something. But they were just flying. That was it. Femka was waiting for it, too, as well was Clank. The only thing that happened was that Gallo's computer was scrambled for a moment. The further they flew from the planet the more regular her computer became until nothing was wrong. Gallo was relieved herself but she didn't keep her guard down. Her fingers frantically pressed several keys on her terminal as she spoke to her computer.

"Computer, hide your serial number and substitute for a fake identification number."

The ship's computer acknowledged the request and cloaked her ship's ID. She was paranoid but had every reason to be. Her life was a constant battle with the law. She wanted to remain hidden as well as she possibly could. She only had a feeling that someone was already informed of the ship that left Fortum. She was correct. When they left it was immediately captured via the satellite's camera. There were stations that monitored the planet's activity on surrounding moons or dwarf planets in the sector. These places were all under watch by Reiggel's Galactic Federation. It was a loose job since not many ever entered the planet and none really left it. A few federation ships were dispatched to retrieve the vessel that left the planet assuming that it was smuggling. To Gallo's dismay, they would be arriving shortly. Her computer alerted her with a message a couple minutes later. Someone was trying to hail her ship. The digital display of the map showed three ships following her.

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath.

"Don't answer the transmission yet. I have an idea," Ratchet said standing up again.

Gallo looked back him with a confused face hidden behind her mask.

"Your ship wasn't recognized earlier, was it? I mean before we crashed on Fortum."

"No. I wasn't spotted."

"Good. When I was on Balva they didn't catch my identity, at least that's what I think."

"Get to your plan."

"Let me answer for you and act as the pilot of this ship. We can hide Arlis and Faas somewhere. If you have two extra suits on here we can hide them underneath the ship if the guys in the federation vessels want to step aboard. I don't think they saw Clank earlier either. Also," he stopped and looked at his clothing, "if they were informed about my identity then I'll need to wear something else. But I was pretty hidden at the prison. If anything, they'd only recognize my clothes and hopefully not my ears or tail…"

"I've got an extra suit but only one. I know where they can hide. It'll be cramped though." Gallo stood up from her seat and walked towards the others in the back. "You," she said looking at Femka, "answer the call for now so they don't get suspicious. I'll take care of the others in the meantime. Ratchet, come back with me and change into the spare suit."

Ratchet followed further into the back of the ship with Gallo. Arlis and Faas followed as well. She opened a door that led them to a small room like on the mechanic's old ship. It was bedroom with a small bathroom to the side. Femka watched them enter and the door closed behind them. She got up from her place and went to the controls. Clank joined her regardless helped her open a channel between them and the requesting ship. The small robot sat beside her as the screen opened to view an older Remilien in formal clothing. He wore a hat with a silver emblem on the front and his collar was folded nicely against his neck. The man spoke firm after clearing his throat.

"It has been brought to our attention that your vessel was seen leaving planet Fortum. What business did you have there?"

"Well, we were leaving because our ship had a problem earlier. You see, we nearly crashed down there but we managed to keep stability, so we had no choice but to land for a little while until we could get our ship working properly again."

"Who is aboard your vessel?"

"Just my friends and I, the four of us."

"We would like to investigate the ship, ma'am. Are you the captain?"

"No…"

"Where is the captain of the ship? We would prefer to speak with him or her."

"Um, just a minute."

Femka panicked looking to Clank who remained off screen in the passenger's seat. The robot quickly put the transmission of hold and Femka hurried out of her seat and ran to the back knocking on the door.

"Ratchet, hurry, they want to speak to you!" she whispered acting as though the officials could still hear her.

The door opened and the mechanic stepped out with his attire changed. The bandages around his head were redone and his simple hat was placed over his head. He quickly ran over to the terminal up front making a clicking noise every time his boots touched the metal floor and pressed the button that returned the transmission to normal. The man on the other side of the screen was surprised to see what was before him.

"Can I help you?" Ratchet said with a smile.

All the while in the room in the back, Gallo was busy hiding Arlis and Faas. The woman had a unique but questionable place to put them. The woman was working at removing a panel underneath the bed that was built into the ship. It could guarantee them enough space and a good place to hide for the time being. Gallo was successful in taking the metal sheet apart and she looked underneath the bed.

"Okay, this'll have to do. Get in there for now and I'll cover it back up with the panel. They shouldn't suspect a thing. Just don't make any noise."

Faas looked at her long time friend with a quirky face and almost a smile. Arlis was confused and he still couldn't believe that all of this was going on.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Get in!" she demanded.

The two hurried underneath the bed and tried fitting themselves evenly without feeling cramped or claustrophobic. Those preferences weren't likely. Fass winced in pain as his broken arm was shoved against the floor. Without delay Gallo put the piece of metal back in place and the area under the bed became dark and small. The two lay on their backs feeling exceptionally awkward at the moment. They only listened to Gallo's footsteps as she left the room and joined the other three up front. She saw the man on the screen and swallowed slowly biting down hard with her teeth.

"_This better work…"_

"Ratchet…?" the man said from the federal ship. "Is this your vessel?"

"Yes, it is."

"Ahem. I was informed your ship was having troubles?"

Femka slyly glanced over at Ratchet with her eyes and gave the smallest nod.

"Oh. Yeah. I think my ship was reacting with those satellites around Fortum. I was probably flying too close."

"I see. Well, Ratchet, we would like to investigate your ship, please. We can never be too sure."

"Sure, sure. Go right ahead."

The transmission closed between them and Ratchet hurried over to the side of the ship and pressed a button on a panel that would open the side door when the ships were linked together. The federal ship that had the gentlemen Femka and Ratchet spoke to docked beside Gallo's vessel. A bridge was extended and soon connected with the side of the ship. Ratchet opened the door as soon as the ship's computer registered the completion of the task. There were four men walking towards him, one of which was the man from before. He greeted the Lombax formally and let his men look about the ship. Femka sat in her seat nervous as ever as a man came over to her just to look around. She watched him carefully as another man inspected the other side of the room and then the third went through the door that led to the bedroom. That was when Faas and Arlis were very still and held their breaths even. They just tuned into to his footsteps and listened carefully as he walked around opening doors and the like.

"What exactly are you doing out here?" the man questioned.

"Just returning a friend back yonder to her home planet."

The man looked to Femka who sat small in her seat.

"It's actually me," Gallo said.

"And where are you from?"

"A galaxy called the Milky Way."

His brow perked at the name having never heard of such a thing.

"Where is this galaxy?"

"Pretty damn far."

The official didn't seem amused by her attitude and stared critical down upon her.

"Sorry about her. She's just a little cranky. It's been a long flight already."

"What's your name, err…," he paused awkwardly trying to confirm Gallo's gender.

"_Miss_ Karina Sosa."

"And you?" he said looking at Femka who was now standing by Ratchet along with Clank.

"Femka Nijhof."

The men gathered together again in one spot as their captain stared at the group of four aliens.

"Sir, we have nothing to report. The ship seems to be in order," one of the men said.

The official nodded his head and looked at Ratchet in question again.

"Are you aware of the prison break on Balva, Ratchet? There were visual captures of a man or woman running to his or her ship. This person had very large ears."

Ratchet's brow rose.

"I don't even know what Balva is." He shrugged his shoulders. "And lots of things have big ears in the universe."

"Mhm…" The stern man turned to his underlings. "You may return to your ships."

"Yes sir," each said in unison as they walked past the man in charge and entered the bridge going back onto their ship.

"Why do you wear that mask, Miss Sosa?" he bothered to ask after staring at her.

"It's personal…"

The man grumbled and sighed through his nose looking back at Ratchet.

"This is just a warning, _Ratchet_, stay away from Fortum. It's not for you to be meddling in."

"You have my word that I'll stay as far away from that planet as possible." He smiled holding up his right hand.

"Good…"

He turned around slowly and walked through the pathway onto the bridge. The door closed behind him in a shutter-like fashion. Moments later their union was disconnected and the three ships were off. Ratchet exhaled deeply with an audible sigh as did the others. Gallo quickly went to the room and let Arlis and Faas out of their temporary hiding place. She helped her childhood friend up but let the old man to his own business. She still didn't want to look at him. Faas looked at her with a relieved smile but the woman turned around and swiftly left to take back the controls of the ship. He watched her leave and exhaled lightly glancing back at his uncle who struggled to get back to his feet. For the moment, the young Remilien gave him to his feelings and assisted Arlis. The man expressed his gratitude but found it equally hard to look him in the face.

"You can go," he said. "I'll wait in here until we get to where Gallo is taking us. I don't want to cause more tension…"

Faas looked down unable to think of anything to say. He knew that his uncle wasn't a bad guy but still deep down it was difficult to accept him. He was trying but Faas couldn't muster the resolution this soon. He left his uncle in the room without a word and joined the other four up front. The ship was back on course to Gallo's destination planet. The red-skinned alien sat beside her buckling his seatbelt in and staring out to the space in front of him. Clank, Femka and Ratchet sat together near the back but none of them spoke. It was like that for hours. Eventually, Clank powered himself down and Femka fell asleep. Faas was barely awake up front with his friend and Ratchet was still up looking through the small window by his head. He felt the weight of the woman sitting next him as her head leaned into his shoulder. The mechanic smiled gently taking his arm around her letting her rest closer and putting his head on top of hers slowly closing his eyes.


	15. Dismissing Old Anguish

**Chapter Fourteen**

Faas opened his eyes realizing that he had fallen asleep and rubbed their corners gently with his free hand. His head motioned to Gallo who was still flying the ship. She was silent as usual, not acknowledging his presence or anyone else's for that matter. Faas looked around the ship from the seat he was in and saw the outside. Space was big and he had no idea where they were. They were about to pass an artificial moon to the left and coming up closely in front was a green colored planet. There were some ships that flew by of various sizes and shapes. The planet was alive considering things were coming to and from it; things floated around it but it was just strange looking to Faas.

"Where are we?" he finally asked after a moment of silent contemplation.

"We're far from Reiggel. It's a backwater solar system called Nettah. We're going to Yuli."

"Yuli?"

"Never heard of it?" Gallo smirked under her mask. "There's a good reason for that."

"Is where you're taking us even safe?"

"It's safe enough. We just have to be careful there. But it's the only place that people of the law don't go to look or to interrogate anyone."

"So, then you go here often?"

"Yeah. I've been living here, actually." She sighed. "The only reason I was on Sepria was because—"

"—You were on Sepria?" he said shocked cutting the woman short. "What were you doing back there? I mean, what were you even still doing in Reiggel?"

"I was about to tell you…"

Faas looked down with his eyes and turned his head away.

"I went to Sepria because I wanted to see my parents. I knew I wasn't going to get caught. I've been keeping myself disguised for years. Anyway, I just wanted to know that they were still okay."

"…Were they?"

"Yeah…"

Both fell silent and Gallo continued to pilot the ship toward the planet. The others were still quietly asleep in the back and Arlis was still in the small room. He was awake but wouldn't dare leave until they needed to get out of the ship. Up front, Faas could only continue to watch the planet grow bigger and bigger. The place (viewed from in space) appeared swamp-like just by all the green colors. In actuality the whole planet itself was diverse and varied in different types of topography. Where they were going, however, was much of a swamp. Yuli, that remained to be the name of the city—or place—they were visiting. Vozik was the name of the planet. It had a reputation for being a place that anyone can go to when things were rough with their own reputations. Yuli was especially a place for such activity like smugglings or illegal trades. Any member of the Pangalactic Federation knew to never tread the precarious lands of Vozik. All things aside, it was considered a great place for pirates to rendezvous—another reason never to stick the law in where it doesn't belong. Despite this, Gallo believed that traveling to Yuli would give them resources that could aid in Femka's return to Earth. Now that they had Arlis Marlow the translator's chances of finding home were greatly increased. But it still remained the angst and awkwardness. Granted, Ratchet succeeded to his end of the deal by bringing Faas to Gallo and now there wasn't anything tying them all together. They all got what they wanted form each other. But Gallo was bitter. Just knowing that Arlis was aboard her ship made her angry to the point of wanting to drive them all right into a star. She hated him. And now she had to be around him. Gallo tried to focus her attention on the present as they began to descend unto Vozik.

The ship bounced for a minute as it broke through a few clouds. Femka's eyes opened after the small jolt and examined the hull of the ship sleepily wondering in her thoughts what was going on. She felt the weight of Ratchet's head resting on her as she finally noticed she had fallen asleep on him and at the same time felt his arm loosely wrapped around her. Her reaction would have been more surprised had she not been trying to wake up still; but in any case it made her nervous to be this close. Though, simultaneously, it was just what she wanted. Femka decided to side with her lustful feelings and didn't push him away. Her eyes focused on the space in front of her view and she let her thoughts take over. They ranged from that dream she had awhile back to some small reoccurring fantasies she had created from time to time and then to the small kiss she gave him the other day. Her cheeks were turning red again. Femka's daydreaming was interrupted by another bump in the ship causing her to grab onto Ratchet out of nervous reflex. The woman loosened up her grip when she heard him make a sound as if he was beginning to wake up. She finally let go of him and sat up straight in her seat to prevent any forthcoming awkwardness she might encounter while still grappled onto Ratchet when he awoke. The Lombax blinked his eyes slowly and rubbed them tiredly with a yawn as Femka watched him out of the corner of her eye. The mechanic stretched out his arms and legs remaining in his seat. The ride was long and sitting in the same spot the whole time was tedious. He turned his head to Femka with his arms stretched over his head and smiled only yawning after. Femka chuckled and yawned back having caught the disease. The woman noticed the scenery that was around them as the ship was readying itself for landing. Her head turned to look out the small window that was next to her and Ratchet by their seats and saw the tall trees from below. The area was all green. It was like a giant bog or something. The buildings were built on top of the water below, each supported on some platform using bridges from the trees to help connect them together. She wondered where Gallo would be able to land but to her surprise as the ship swiftly sank through the tall trees she could see a platform surrounded by the murky, green water and only assumed that that was their landing pad. It was turning to night and the pathway was lit by lights stringed up on the bridges and houses and placed on the small platforms on top of the water. Gallo was successful to land the ship smoothly on the tiny platform beneath them. She took off her seatbelt stood up from her chair.

"How do you feel?"

"My arm hurts a lot…" Faas grunted adjusting himself in the chair.

"We'll find you a doctor after we stop at my place for a minute."

Gallo gently helped her friend out of his seat and the two began to walk to the other end of the ship. The masked woman saw Ratchet and Femka awake and looked to the door briefly only turning away pressing some buttons on the side of the ship's interior to open up the door. Ratchet glanced at the bedroom door as well assuming that Arlis had still been in there the whole time. His ear twitched and his stare rotated to Clank who was sound asleep in the place next to the mechanic. Ratchet knocked on the little robot's head like it was a door and his eyes opened with a spin. Clank's arms and legs extended from being compacted into his little body and he looked up at his smiling friend who motioned with his eyes they were ready to leave. Clank saw Gallo and Faas standing by the now opening side door while Ratchet stood up taking the backpack which contained Femka's belongings and swung it over his shoulder. Femka got up as well and Clank hopped off of his chair and the two walked to the door. Ratchet started to walk towards the door but looked back at the bedroom entrance and took a few steps in its direction, knocking on the metal frame. Gallo looked back but exited the vessel anyway. Faas followed whimsically behind her.

"Mister Arlis?" he said with a spiked pitch in his voice. "We're here. You can come out now."

Ratchet's ears could pick up any small sound that was close by. He heard through the thickness of the door the man that was shuffling about. It opened revealing Arlis with a tired look about him. His whole visage was old and exhausted. That man had been through a lot in the many years of his exile on Fortum. He left the room and sighed heavily. Femka looked at him while standing behind Ratchet and felt sorry for the man. He looked like a wreck; also he had to confront two people whom he hadn't seen in ages who didn't seem interested in even looking at him. She felt bad because she needed him. She needed Arlis's help despite the problems between him and Gallo and Faas. The four left the vessel, the door shutting behind them, their feet touching the hard surface and their eyes glancing at the new world around them. Gallo and Faas were standing underneath a lamp post talking quietly as the others approached them finally. Gallo turned to their direction unpredictable behind her mask.

"Follow me," she said plain and walked on.

The platform they were on split into bridges going in four directions. As they walked on the bridge it began to elevate over the water and into the trees. It was an interesting set up. The place looked old-fashioned but supplementary technologies would say otherwise. There were ships flying above the tall, thick trees which hung down like gigantic weeping willows and the people who walked about the bridges and hung around the buildings were of different races, all appearing questionable with the looks they would give as the group passed on by. Femka caught the eyes of some aliens watching them and eyeing her when she walked near them. A man who looked like some cross between an Agorian and a pig smirked at her and cackled when Femka shot a bothered and disturbed look back at him. She found herself pressed against Ratchet's side after the moment passed. The mechanic looked at the worried woman who wrapped her arm within his continuing to cautiously watch the people around her and pulled her closer whispering in her ear.

"I know exactly what you're thinking," he said briefly watching the aliens stare at them. "Just don't look at them."

"I'm pretty sure this is one reason why Gallo is so stern," Femka whispered back. "She has to put up with these weirdos."

"Let's just stick close by her for now," Ratchet said hurrying them closer to Gallo who walked in front of them.

Arlis was following slowly behind as Gallo lead the group around for a few minutes until they finally made it to a dome like building with a tower stacked on top that was built around one of the trees. There was a small gang of aliens chatting amongst one another as the group came to the dome. One of them looked as he smoked a cigar and puffed a ring of smoke out of his mouth. His body was covered in dark brown scales and his entourage seemed to be the same species as him.

"Gallo," the man sniveled with a raspy voice as the woman approached the door. "Long time no see." He smiled with a light chuckle and a cough.

"Get out of the way," she demanded sharply.

The lizard-like creature chuckled again ignoring her order and his friends laughed as well.

"Who're your friends?" he hissed with a smile.

"None of your business, now get out of my way."

Gallo stepped forward pushing the man out by force and he stumbled back chocking on the smoke of his cigar.

"You owe me this month's rent, princess." The man coughed.

"You'll get it."

The lizard's eyes narrowed and his upper lip twitched at the woman's disregard for personal business. She didn't pay much attention to him as she put a card through a scanner by the side of the building's door. The door opened and she began walking inside. The others watched her uncertain of the instance that just randomly happened and slowly followed behind her as the aliens scrutinized them until the door closed leaving them outside.

"Financial problems, huh?" Ratchet said breaking the silence as they followed Gallo.

"He owns this structure. I haven't been here in a while… My rent is behind schedule."

Gallo lead them to a lift that would lead them up to another level. Everyone entered silently—all except for Arlis.

"Are you not coming with us, Mister Marlow?" Clank asked as Gallo entered the information in the elevator.

"I'll wait down here…," he said quietly.

Before Clank could say another word the doors closed and the lift ascended. They stepped out after they reached the mid-section of the complex. The woman led them to a door with the numbers "908" written on it in whatever language this region used. By this point, everyone's guess was this place was just an apartment complex. There were shady characters walking around even on the inside of the place. Femka couldn't wait until Gallo opened up that door so she could feel less paranoid. The masked woman stepped inside and the door spiraled open revealing her home. It seemed tidy enough despite not being taken care of for the past month or so. Gallo allowed the others to enter as she opened the windows to her stuffy apartment living room letting the sounds and lights from the outside fill the area. Faas stared at everything in the room where they all stood. She did say she'd been living in Yuli since her escape from prison. Gallo managed to collect many things since then. It looked somewhat homey but something about it didn't feel that way. Probably because of her attitude and the overall atmosphere of the situation at hand. Gallo turned around and stared at the group in front of her who all looked back at her awkwardly awaiting her next stipulation.

"I need to treat Faas to some Nanotech," Gallo spoke up suddenly. "In the meantime, you can stay here and rest wherever. And don't go in my room," she said pointing to a door on the left side of the room they were in.

Faas followed her hand which pointed to the forbidden bedroom and his eyes went back on his uncompromising friend who approached him.

"Let's go. We shouldn't wait for something like this much longer."

"Right…" Faas sighed looked at his injured arm that rested in its temporary sling.

"Before I go," Gallo said looking at the others, "if you leave the room, here's an extra keycard." She tossed the card at Ratchet after pulling it out of a compartment from within her attire.

The two left the room and Femka stared at Ratchet somewhat worried.

"Maybe we should go back for Arlis. You didn't tell him the whole story yet, right?"

"Yeah, good point. I did tell him I'd explain everything when we were settled." He sighed fiddling with the card in his fingers.

"We should hurry. I do not believe it is safe to leave Mister Marlow by himself." Clank blinked his eyes at his friend.

Ratchet nodded and let his feet take him to the door which they came through. He placed the card in one of his pockets as the three of them entered back onto the lift. When they reached the bottom floor they saw Arlis leaving the complex. The bag that was still hung over Ratchet's shoulder slumped down his arm as he ran after the old man.

"Hey, hey! Wait!" he said running behind the man pushing Femka's backpack up again. "Where're you going?"

The old researcher looked back and shook his head with a small shrug seeing Ratchet, Femka and Clank behind him.

"Well," he began, "I just wanted to look around."

"…Oh." Ratchet seemed surprised at his response. "Don't you think that's dangerous, going by yourself?"

Arlis smiled making a small laugh causing the Lombax to tilt his head at the gesture.

"You're right."

"How about we just find a seemingly safe place to get some refreshments? I owe you an explanation after all." Ratchet scratched his neck.

"Alright, Ratchet," Arlis nodded slowly. "I'd like see just what I'm getting myself into."

Ratchet smiled lightly at Arlis's sense of adventure the group found themselves in moments wondering the dark bridges of Yuli. Undoubtedly they'd get lost eventually but thank science for the advanced technology that was packed inside the small device known as the nav-unit. Unfortunately, no one knew anything about the planet other than that it was a spot of illegal activists. Every time they walked past an open shop they would get stares. Either they knew they were foreigners or that's just how the people on Vozik lived, in complete suspicion. After some point they decided on whatever just _looked _safe enough. There was a small restaurant (much like the one on Sepria) which they picked. It was dark like any other place they'd seen so far and the atmosphere remained the same to the overall theme of the city. Naturally they were stared at by some of the aliens that were sitting at their own tables but the looks didn't last very long. Femka's eyes glanced around the room seeing an empty spot somewhere in the middle and pointed over Ratchet's shoulder to it. A small light hung over the table in a decorative fashion and as soon as they sat down they were greeted by a server of the joint who had four arms, one eye and a face like a squid. His presence took Femka by surprise as she tried to hide her shocked expression by looking the other way. The man didn't seem to be fazed at all and proceeded to ask them of their desires. None of them knew the menu and one of them wasn't capable of eating, so the house special was appropriate. The server described the meal as something like a fish that they catch from the body of water that surrounds them. Femka wasn't too sure about the whole idea considering said body of water was just a swamp. But she was hungry. The waiter left their table and Ratchet looked over to Arlis who sat across from him. It was time to get to business.

"Well, I guess I should start," Ratchet began with a small scratch of his ear.

Arlis's glance fixed on the Lombax.

"Remember when I showed you that necklace that I was wearing earlier? I said it belonged to Femka."

"Yes, I remember."

"It's the reason why she's here. You see, when some group of pirates broke into a museum on Igliak they took a heavy sample of Neroltrium. Nobody really knew what it was yet, except for the pirates, which was why they went after it, and Clank I, on a whim, chased them down. We located the pirate ship and found the stone. It was like the size of Clank's head. This pirate said she wanted to use it for its powers. And she did. But she failed. Her ship's computer overloaded and something weird happened. As the ship was exploding, Clank and I ran back to my ship and we tried to fly away but we couldn't. Some kind of wormhole was created and it trapped us inside and took us to a different place. It took us to Femka's galaxy where we were hurled onto her planet. We met her there and that Neroltrium rock landed there with us. When she approached it, it reacted to her, because she was wearing that necklace. It sent all of us back through the wormhole—long story short—and gave Femka an interesting ability. Now she has the same properties as that stone. But the one the pirates stole is back on Earth."

Arlis had the most curious expression about his face. He looked to Femka almost to see if what the mechanic was saying was true and she nodded her head rapidly.

"That's not all. Like I said, it's big story. A lot has happened since she got here. But to put it short, she has to find a way home. Clank gave us a theory that it could be possible to use her stone or her power to open up another wormhole that might bring her back to her galaxy. But…"

"The location," Arlis finished. "You want to know how to get the exact coordinates."

"Yeah, exactly. Is any of that possible?"

"Of course, Ratchet." The old man looked down with a small smile and a sigh. "This was my life. I studied for what seemed like eons about this material and what it was capable of." He stared back at the three. "Do you know the story of the Great Oppressor?"

Femka immediately nodded her head again.

"I do. Well, I know a lot about it. Ipsin was the one who told me."

"Ipsin?" Arlis strained his eyes to see her. "You… were acquainted with Ipsin?"

"That's a part of the long story Ratchet was telling you. After I stayed on Igliak for a little bit I ran into him. We became friends and then he used me. He found out about my necklace and then he found out about my ability."

Arlis looked down once more shaking his head slowly. He knew Ipsin wouldn't have changed even if he did survive that long and escape Reiggel.

"In the end, he told me all about Sergua and his master plan and Ipsin wanted to relive it. But he failed, too, and his ship went down. Ratchet and Clank saved me and after that explosion; we're all pretty certain that he didn't make it out alive…"

"So… He's actually dead…?"

Arlis stared at the table, his hands resting on his lap. What was going through him was the strangest feeling. Ipsin was a man that Arlis thought he could trust but that was a long time ago. After his corruption everything that happened was thrust onto the old researcher's shoulders. Because Ipsin brought Arlis into temptation he cursed himself for the rest of his life. Knowing that Ipsin was dead should have made him happy. But it didn't. Granted it didn't stop him from trying, though.

"I can't believe it…"

"That's what Faas thought, too," Ratchet said.

"I assume he told you everything, also?" Arlis glanced at the Lombax that only nodded his head slowly to the question. "I don't think he'll ever forgive me. I think especially the same for Gallo. It's obvious she has a grudge. She has every right to."

The awkwardness was swept around the table as they were all silent until Arlis realized it and decided to speak up again.

"Well, now that that's all out of the way, I guess you'll be wanting my expertise?" He watched them all again and sighed through his nose. "I have a theory."

Each of them looked intensely at the old researcher waiting for his proposal.

"I can assume that one theory you had, Clank, was if Femka's galaxy was even in this universe?"

"That is correct," the robot answered blinking his green eyes.

"Your stone, Femka, though not originally from your planet, made it to your planet somehow. We won't excuse the fact that Neroltrium has some strange cosmic abilities but we could say that during Sergua's destruction some of the material found its way to your planet over the years. Maybe by a comet, maybe by some other space debris, who knows? But it's a possible theory that could state that your galaxy is in our universe as well."

Femka smiled faintly agreeing with his assessment.

"Wandering space just to find where you live would be impossible—especially with that small probability that your home isn't in our universe. So, we must figure out a way to create a wormhole, or teleporter, which could directly transport you home. Our problem is that we don't have the coordinates of your planet."

"Wait a minute," Ratchet interrupted. "What if we kind of have the coordinates to her planet?"

"Kind of?"

"When we crashed on Earth my nav-unit recorded our location automatically. It didn't recognize where we were but it still gave me some numbers."

The elderly man had a curious look about him. He was pondering heavily about it all and the details on his face only showed it more.

"With your coordinates and a sample of the Neroltrium which you have it could be possible to build a device much like a teleporter that could lead to her home. But I can't be too certain of how good the results will be. It's very dangerous…"

"But it _is _possible, right?" Ratchet asked with a perk of his eyebrows.

"Yes. But I don't have the resources anymore to make things like this. I can't go back to my lab—I'm sure it's long gone—and I just can't go back period." He sighed sitting back in his chair.

Ratchet looked down at Clank who sat beside him with a quirky smile. Clank tapped his chin and glanced back at the old Remilien.

"Mister Marlow, you are more than just a researcher, correct?"

"Yes."

"You are a technician as well?"

"I am."

"And an engineer?"

He nodded.

"So, then it is possible for you to make sure a device?"

He again nodded to confirm Clank's question.

"Then you do not need to worry about a facility from where you must work or materials of which you may need for creating this device. We will offer our facilities to you."

"Your facilities?" Arlis was rather shocked at the offer and the fact they could have the proper resources for his mental idea.

"Yes. Ratchet is a rocket mechanic and we have lived in various locations giving us more than enough resources lying about. If there is something that you need for this creation then I am sure we have it available."

"And if not we can probably get it," Ratchet added with a smile. "So, will you do it?"

The man looked at three across the table gathering the hope they all had on their faces.

"I'll do it," he finally spoke.

Femka smiled hearing him agree but inside she couldn't keep the sadness down. This only meant she would be gone from this place sooner. However, her smile stayed when Ratchet looked at her happily from the news. There was one thing that pushed Ratchet's smile away, though.

"We have to find a ship to get off of this planet."

"Do you not suggest that we ask Gallo?" Clank questioned.

"We don't owe her anymore favors and she doesn't really owe us anything either. Besides, I don't know if it's a good idea to have her around with Arlis."

"But how else will we get a ship? I do not believe you have an infinite source of income, Ratchet."

"I know, I know. I'm almost broke…" Ratchet sighed placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin in the palms of his hands.

"We do not have many options. We must at least attempt to ask Gallo if she would be willing. Perhaps we can give her compensation when we reach our destination."

"Alright. We'll ask. But," Ratchet paused looking at Arlis, "is it alright with you?"

"I survived one trip, I can survive another." The old Remilien swallowed his pride.

Femka stared at Arlis for a moment before noticing the strange waiter from before coming back to their table with their orders. She looked at her lap and thought about what the future held for her—and for Arlis. From all these stories that she heard she could only think that Arlis really wasn't who he used to be. He changed a lot since his younger years; that much she could assume by herself. Femka shifted her glasses bringing her attention back to the food that was just placed down in front of her. Well, it did look like a fish, some kind of fish. Smelled like a fish, too. Femka prodded it with her utensil and picked up a small portion placing it under her nose then into her mouth. The stuff they glazed the fish over with melted on her tongue. This meal was one of the better things she had encountered on her galactic journey. Femka wondered if Ratchet felt the same. He seemed to have peculiar taste buds. Arlis dug into his food regardless of whether he liked fish or not. For him, this was the first true meal he had eaten in decades. To Femka's curiosity, Ratchet appeared contented with the meal. The young woman went back to eating her own food and when she was finished the reality of her tiredness came tumbling down as the food in her stomach made her full. Femka leaned back into her chair until the others had finished. Before long Ratchet was graced with the check which was followed by a subsequent grumble. The group left their table after paying and walked outside into the night. Arlis stopped following behind them and looked out into the distance standing on one of the many bridges.

"You three can go on ahead of me," he said.

They all turned around curiously.

"Is that a very wise idea, Mister Marlow?" Clank asked concerned.

"I don't think anyone will bother me. Look at me," he tugged at his tattered clothes and wiggled his bare feet. "I'll be fine."

"Do you remember where Gallo's place is?" Ratchet added.

"I'll find it again. Just go on." He practically showed them away with his hand.

The mechanic shrugged and turned around beginning to walk again. Femka followed as did Clank. The little robot stopped, looking back at Arlis who just leaned against the bridge.

"Ratchet, I will stay with him. I do not believe he will find the way back to Gallo's apartment by himself. At least I can give him directions." Clank turned around and walked back to the old man.

"Sure, whatever you say pal." Ratchet smiled and continued onward with Femka.

Arlis noticed the tiny robot approaching him and smiled lightly. It seemed like intelligent things needed to be with each other. Clank respected the researcher as a man of knowledge and someone who made mistakes. He was curious about him and genuinely concerned for the man.

"Come to keep me company?"

"Yes and I am certain that you will be lost without my help."

Arlis chuckled lightly coughing after he did so. He looked out into the city. There were speckles of light all around from the windows of people's homes or shops or from the bride decorations. The trees that stood in the way also added an interesting touch to the effect. Clank looked into the distance with him. Beneath them were several more layers of the city and above them was just the same.

"I almost forgot what being around people was like. It's been so long… All I had on that planet was me."

"How did you manage survival so well?"

"I guess I was lucky. I ran into a lot of terrible things on that planet." He sighed. "It only made me feel like I deserved it all, though, after what I've done."

"I do not believe that your past deeds were horrible, Mister Marlow. In sight of relativism, what happened was circumstantial. You cannot blame yourself for every consequence. After all, there were many variables in your life that interfered with your own judgment."

Arlis stared down at the small being beside him with somewhat of a blank expression covering his face.

"In sight of logic," he began with a smile growing, "you have a point."

Clank peered up at him in modesty slowly blinking his big, green eyes with a turn of the aperture-like shutters that were his eyelids. Arlis knew the sentient robot was right. All the old man could think about after the incident was the greatest error of his life. But even Clank knew that whatever he had done couldn't be changed now; and what he hadn't done couldn't be helped. The aged Remilien turned his view back to another bridge that was across from them and rested against the railing in front of him.

"You know, for what the so called reputation of this place is, this city seems to be thriving." He pondered. "Then again, successful criminals seem to make it off pretty well in this universe."

"Times still have not changed since your last galactic retrospect."

"I didn't think so."

As the two stood there over the hours, people that walked around at night became fewer. Most of the time they stood by that bridge it was in complete silence; but when there wasn't silence they were only getting to know each other more by mere idle chitchat. Arlis let out a yawn which he covered up with his hand.

"Would you care to return home now?"

"I suppose we should. I don't want to sleep out here, though it's still an improvement from my cave," he shrugged.

Clank would be the one to give them directions back home. It really wasn't that far but the bridge system was awfully confusing for anyone without a navigational unit or some kind of map to help guide them. Arlis could see the dome like structure up ahead from where they were and the tall tower like piece that stuck out of it. Clank walked beside him and noticed that Gallo and Faas were walking toward the complex as well from a bridge somewhat above them. He could hear their talking as they night was quieter now. Arlis heard them as well and turned to their direction. Faas and Gallo couldn't see them from the angle they were at above. Their talk seemed to be rather serious. Clank stopped walking and Arlis did as well.

"How can you trust him?" Gallo said in a sharp tone.

"I never said I did. I just… He's still my uncle…"

"That shouldn't really matter anymore. Blood or not, don't you care about what happened? Don't you care what he did to you? You were thrown into a terrible place because of him!"

"It wasn't all his fault. It was Ipsin, too."

"How can you just be so forgiving all of a sudden? You've barely talked to him since you've just seen him. How can you take going to prison for so long so lightly?"

"I'm not. I've got my grudges. But I can't blame him…" Faas's tone was low and sad. His eyes didn't look at Gallo. "I've always known Arlis to not be a cruel person. What he did, was because he was under the Neroltrium's and Ipsin's influences. I know without that man none of this would have happened."

"You don't know that…" Gallo practically growled through her teeth. "His tinkering with science and resources that were banished for a reason did terrible things, Faas. You don't know… you haven't seen me in years. You don't know what I look like, what mental scars I had to go through. I lost you… for so long… You may have been in jail, in that retched facility, but I was always running away… and I never had any place to go."

Faas wanted to speak but hearing her words forced his eyes to stare down at the ground. He rolled up his sleeve to his previously broken arm to look at the scarring he received from the day of the incident when he was a young boy. Gallo's hands reached for her mask as she slowly began to pull it off. Faas turned his stare away from his arm and back to Gallo to see her face. His eyes didn't widen but his face was sympathetic. He barely remembered what Gallo's scarred face looked like after such a long time but when he saw it again it sent a wave of chills down his spine. She stared back at him with a quivering lip. Most of her face was disfigured. Her eyes remained intact although no eyelashes would ever grow. Her lips were half scarred and the rest of face looked as if she suffered from third degree burns. Her hair didn't grow in some spots beyond her crown. She continued to stare at him as tears began to fall down her face.

"Why is it that he can be okay but I have to suffer? Why?" she cried inhaling with a sniff of her nose as her tears streamed down her ridged cheeks. "I can never feel normal… I'm… Look at me!" She chocked, her mask falling to the ground.

Faas only stared for barely a second longer and stretched out his arms placing his hands against her cheeks and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. His eyes peered right into hers.

"You are normal," he said softly.

Gallo pressed her hand over Faas's and gasped out more sobs and tears until her voice was muffled by his lips pushing against her own. Her eyes were wide but gradually they relaxed as her voice lowered and her tears slowed down. Faas didn't take his lips away for a little while and when he did he kept her close in an embrace. Gallo's head slid under his chin and her face pressed into his neck. Her arms were limp for a second but soon the wrapped tightly around him.

"I still think you're beautiful." He held her close. "No matter what you look like on the outside, you'll always be the person I've loved the most."

Arlis felt his heart sink as he listened below. His hand grabbed at his chest as he stared at the ground underneath him.

"Oh, Clank…," he said in a whisper. "Look what I've done to her. I could never redeem myself of any of this."

"You cannot always expect or request redemption. The proof is already there."

Arlis exhaled deeply feeling more beyond guilt and shame than he ever did before. He didn't want to feel so many burdens but at the same time he felt like he deserved every punishment that was thrown at him. Up atop the bridge Gallo finally lifted her head from Faas's comfort and stared up at him and he continued to push her tears away.

"You love me…, even though… I look like this…?"

"It doesn't matter to me. You look the same like when I remember you when I first met you."

"Faas…" She sniffled letting another tear slid down her face. "You were always so accepting. I wish I could be like you…" Her voice whispered and shook.

"I am the way I am, because I learned from good people," he spoke softly. "Besides, you still accept me, even though you know who I accept and forgive myself."

Gallo stared into his eyes. What he said set her back. He was absolutely right. She would always love and accept Faas, no matter what. Arlis was his uncle but she still loved the man standing in front of her. Faas practically vocalized that he forgave his uncle but she still loved him even though she couldn't forgive Arlis.

"Faas, I… I want some time to be alone. Just for tonight." The woman reached in her pocket to pull out her key for her room. "Take this. I'll be back by sunrise."

He took the card in his hand and looked at Gallo who picked up her mask from the ground. She stared at the object putting it back on her face and covering up the rest of her head as well. She turned around and started off in the direction they came from but took another path. Faas watched her walk away and slowly paced himself back to the front of the apartment complex. He saw Arlis and Clank approaching as well. Arlis stopped nearby the front door and Faas saw the guilt on his face. He wondered if his uncle had overheard the conversation just now. He looked down at Clank who gestured a sympathetic look for the sake of Arlis. Faas sighed and opened his mouth.

"Clank, we'll be inside shortly. Take my key."

As Clank came forward he took the small card from Faas and blinked up at him.

"I assumed as much."

Fass couldn't help but smile at his comment as he saw the robot off into the front door. He seemed to know a lot for such a small, mechanical being. Soon his glance came back to his old uncle. Faas wasn't sure what he would say and the same went for Arlis. The young Remilien walked closer to his kin and they were now face to face.

"Uncle Arlis," Faas broke the silence. "I don't hate you." He stared him in the eyes. "I've been through hell these past however many years it's been, but you're not the man I hate." He exhaled deeply. "You used to be. But since then I've had lots of time to think."

"Faas, if I could go back in time and stop myself from meeting—"

"—I know you would. That's the uncle that I remember. I know you're not a bad person. I forgive you."

Arlis only stared at his nephew before the young man threw himself to an embrace with him. Arlis instinctively wrapped his arms around Faas holding him as tight as he could. A small tear escaped the corner of his eye while he stood there. Faas let go of his uncle and looked at his tired face. For once, he felt good. He didn't appear to look good, but on the inside he felt at peace. This was an inner demon that had to be exorcised and finally Faas was able to do it. As for Arlis, he felt nearly the same. When Faas showed him a small smile he only gave one back. The two of them looked like they'd both seen their fair share of pain and torment just by the way their clothes looked. But beyond all that they were stronger now.

"Um," Faas quietly began again still looking at his uncle, "maybe we should go inside."

He simply nodded his head lightly. The two walked inside, Arlis allowing his nephew the entrance first, and headed onto the lift that would take them back up to Gallo's room. They were silent during the short trip up but that didn't matter. The major issue had been resolved. When they approached the door Faas saw the cardkey slightly underneath it and picked it up and opened the door quietly. The room was dark but it wasn't too difficult to navigate around. On the left side of the room, Gallo's bedroom was behind that door. There was a couch in the living room and another room that had a guest bed opposite of Gallo's room. The masked woman gave Faas permission earlier while at the clinic to sleep in her bed. He already assumed that the others were sharing the spare bedroom.

"Will you be alright sleeping out here?" Faas asked looking at his uncle.

"I've been sleeping in a cave for the past twenty years or so. This couch will suit me just fine," Arlis said quietly as he pat the sofa with his hand and sat down.

Faas chuckled lightly and left the living room opened the door to Gallo's room. Her bedroom seemed similar in design to the rest of the place. She was a junk collector. A probable hobby that came about after all she went through. Or maybe she just liked stuff. Nevertheless, Faas plopped down on the comfy bed and sighed letting his tail wag slowly back and forth. In moments, his eyes were shut and he was out.


	16. A Little Detour

**Chapter Fifteen**

Femka's eyes flickered open suddenly the following morning. The light came through the window and invaded her dreams forcing her to wake. It felt warm. Her hands instinctively rubbed against her eyes and scratched away the sleep dust that gathered at their corners. Her mouth opened to a yawn and her legs stretched outward to bump gently into the person that was next to her. She was lying on her side and her head turned just slightly to catch Ratchet out of the corner of her eye. He was still sleeping and facing in her direction. She thought it was kind of funny how that she always seemed to have an opportunity to lie next to the person she liked and at the same time she couldn't force herself go any further. She sighed through her nose with the smallest bit of blush crossing her cheeks and she let her head rest on the pillow beneath her closing her eyes again. Everything was coming closer to the end now. Arlis agreed to help build the theoretical device that would get her home and soon she would see her friends and family again. Femka wondered what her friend Alexander was doing at the moment. Actually, she wondered that a lot before she went to bed or whenever she had a moment by herself to simply think. When she would get home, she would be wondering the same thing but this time with Ratchet and Clank. The urge to not go home was still pestering her mind. But plans had already come so far. Saying she wanted to stay would only cause more problems—at least that's what she felt. The woman tried to ignore her annoying and troublesome thoughts so that maybe she could get more sleep. But to no avail her mind was too persistent. Femka let her eyes stay open as she felt another yawn coming on. Her eyes perked toward the door of the guestroom when she heard a sound coming from the living room. Gallo was back and the door closed behind her tightly when she entered. It was still early in the morning but Gallo was out for the whole night. Femka had no idea about all the things that happened last night. She only assumed the person entering already was Gallo, because this was her home. After hearing some footsteps walking about and then another door open and close Femka slowly got up out of bed trying not to disturb Ratchet from his sleep. The Lombax seemed to be in a deep sleep twitching his nose once and lying there looking limp. Femka watched him for a second only realizing that she was staring at him. Her face was red again and she left the room in a hurry. All the doors were automatic—just like any other place the Earthling had seen so far—and when she left it closed behind her. She saw the living room light up as the early sun tried to penetrate through the deep forest and shine what light it could into the small apartment. Where Arlis once was on the couch was just a rough imprint of his existence. The cushions were in a different place and the blanket was bundled up to the end and falling slightly off of the sofa. Femka rubbed her eyes again and located the bathroom finally. She needed to get through her routine, though she forgot to take her backpack with her. The woman left the bathroom and returned with the things she needed that would help make her clean. She didn't want to intrude any further in Gallo's home but the urge to shower and brush her teeth were overpowering. It seemed like every planet—or city, or whatever—had their own ways of design and mechanics for their utilities; it never stopped Femka from figuring it out eventually. When she finished her duties in the bathroom, the young woman left feeling refreshed and carrying her things with her and wearing another outfit she brought with her. When she came back to the spare bedroom Ratchet was still asleep but the rest of the bed was now his domain. Femka smiled biting her bottom lip seeing him sprawled out like that. She checked her comm-link to see what time it was on the planet. It read: 7:30. Femka felt like she could get more sleep feeling the tiredness around her eyes. She found a spot that was free from Ratchet's body parts and sat down giving another yawn.

"Ratchet?" she quietly said turning her head back to the Lombax. "Move over." Her hand nudged his shoulder until he responded.

His eyes opened a small crack seeing a blurred vision and he closed them with a small grunt moving his arms and legs out of the way. Femka lifted her legs onto the bed and rested her body next to Ratchet. She closed her eyes after her damp head was placed on the pillow. She was out within a few minutes.

• • •

When the girl woke up again there was more light coming through the small room and she could hear voices from outside. She lifted up her tired head and looked around noticing that Ratchet was no longer there. She took her time getting out of bed and headed out of the room after taking her things with her. She saw Clank, Faas and Ratchet sitting around in the living room talking with each other. She wondered where Arlis and Gallo were when she didn't see them. All eyes went on her for a moment as she tried to fix her hair where she stood and put on her glasses to see the room better.

"…Hi," she said quietly.

"Greetings, Miss Femka."

"Where's Arlis?"

"He's in the bathroom," Faas answered directing his head with a tilt to the door. "Gallo came back this morning with some things for me. She left some clothes on the table out here with a note." He gestured to his new clothes as where he sat. "So, I gave him a pair of clothes to wear for now. Gallo's still sleeping, though. She was out the whole night."

"So, we haven't told her about the plan yet," Ratchet added.

"Oh…"

Femka sat down next to her admiration after he pat the seat next to him on the sofa.

"We've just been filling each other in since we woke up. Apparently we missed Faas forgive his uncle and then Faas missed our mission plan with him, Arlis that is."

"Everything's okay?" Femka asked looking at Faas apprehensively.

"Yeah." He nodded smiling slightly. "But I can't say the same for Gallo. I really don't think she'll ever forgive him. So, when she wakes up just try to be nice."

Arlis finally left the bathroom revealing him in his new attire. He seemed to look more pleasant compared to yesterday. Soap was a very difficult—impossible—thing to acquire back on Fortum. Though, he did bathe in the springs underground, a shower with actual cleansing products works much better. Arlis acknowledged Femka's presence as she did the same. Now, the only thing left to do was wait for Gallo to wake up. After all, she was the only person in that apartment with a ship. Arlis took a seat on the opposite end of the couch pushing his hair back behind him. The next thing he wanted to do was to get all that mess cut off properly. Meanwhile, in Gallo's room, the woman was already awake—or just waking, rather. She didn't sleep very long. Maybe about four or so hours. That's all she needed. When she opened her eyes she could hear the group talking outside the door. Last night gave her plenty of time to think about everything she said to Faas and what he said to her. Gallo really didn't know how to feel still. She got out of bed and looked at her face's bare reflection in the mirror. Her hand gently slid down the side of her scarred face. Looking at it was too much to bear. When the woman brushed back her short black hair she merely put the mask back on. She wasn't ready to face the world just yet without it. She replaced her garbs from yesterday with new ones and with the last touches of her outfit she stepped out into the living room where the others looked at her and quieted their voices. Faas smiled at her and stood up from the chair he was in to greet her.

"How do you feel today?"

"I'm alright."

"Gallo… I don't mean to bring this up so suddenly, but, Ratchet needs another favor from you."

Gallo looked at the Lombax who felt suddenly on the spot and stood up quickly as well.

"Uh, well," he scratched his head. "You're the only one with a ship, that we know, and we still need to get home…"

"You can borrow mine."

Ratchet paused with his mouth open not exactly expecting her to agree.

"Really?" his ears perked.

"Yeah. I'm done traveling for awhile," she said softly. "Anyway, you lost your ship rescuing Faas, so I owe you. I already said that would repay you somehow for getting him out of jail."

Faas looked at Gallo strangely with what she said. He watched her leave the area and enter another room.

"Whenever you're all ready…," she said while fixing some of the ornaments in the other room.

Faas looked at the others who all looked at him and then to one another. Femka stood up next picking up her things and throwing them over her back. Clank hopped off of his seat as well standing by Ratchet's feet. Arlis eventually stood up from off of the couch and glanced at his nephew. There was a strange expression on his face. He was thinking about something. Gallo finally came back into the room and stared at everyone. Her hands motioned to the door and ultimately they all left through it. It was just strange that Gallo didn't object but rather let them take her ship instead. Her generosity was making everyone cautious. When they reached the outside no one spoke and Gallo led the way. Faas followed next to her after some point glancing at her through the corner of his eye and back in front of him. Arlis's guilt was still prominent and he kept to himself the duration of the walk. As soon as they arrived to her ship Faas looked down at Gallo as she looked at everyone else.

"I know I said borrow, but don't count on me ever coming back for it."

"Why are you just giving us your ship?" Ratchet had to ask.

"I don't need it anymore." Gallo sighed quietly and looked at Faas. "I know you have forgiveness, but for me, it's a little too difficult…" She then looked to Arlis. "I can never forgive you for what you've done. But… it's necessary for Femka to get home. So help her."

Arlis looked down at his bare feet and then back to Gallo. He returned a small nod to her. What Clank said was right. He can't expect redemption from everyone. What he did will always haunt his soul.

"Faas," Gallo said almost in a whisper, "I want you to be safe…"

"I will be, but why are you saying that?"

"For your journey…" Her head stared down.

"I'm not going," he said picking her face back up with his hand. "I'm staying here."

"What?" Her voice was quiet yet surprised.

"I've had just about enough traveling for one day. I'd like to stay in one place for awhile. And I'd really like to stay there with you. The universe doesn't have much for me other than you, Gallo. So, what's the point of leaving? I don't want you to be alone."

She didn't know what to say. Gallo wasn't anticipating the words that came out of the Remilien's mouth. She stared up at him looking through the holes of her mask. Her heart felt light and heavy at the same time. She was used to being alone ever since she was a teenager but all this time she just wanted Faas by her side again. The feelings that they both shared for one another survived over the years. It was a miraculous thing.

"You really wish to stay…?"

"I do." Faas looked over to his uncle and took a few steps toward him until they were face to face. "Uncle Arlis. I don't think this'll be the last time I'll see you, but until then, please take care."

He extended his hand to shake with his uncle. It was the final part to their reconciliation. Arlis took his hand and shook it firmly. Both gave each other a small smile.

"You were always a good boy," Arlis praised.

"It helps to have a good mentor."

Faas let go of the old man's hand and walked over to Ratchet with the same smile only to have it turn quirky with furrowed brows.

"You broke me out of prison."

"I think that's really all you have to say." Ratchet jogged his head with his eyes looking off to the side and his shoulders shrugged.

Faas smiled normally again and shook the mechanic's hand as well.

"Well, thank you anyway, Ratchet."

"It was my pleasure."

Faas kneeled down to Clank's level offering him a shake of his hand as well. The small robot clasped the Remilien's hand and shook it with a smile of his own.

"Please take care, Faas."

"I will. Same goes to you too."

The red alien stood straight again and smiled to Femka next also taking her hand in a firm shake. The woman fixed her glasses smiling back and gripping his hand tightly.

"I'm sure my uncle will be able to get you home safely. Until then, enjoy your time with your friends."

"Thank you," Femka smiled kindly at him.

He returned to Gallo's side shortly after and looked at the others before him. Gallo looked up at her childhood friend and took a hold of his hand for strength and squeezed it tightly. Faas returned the action holding her hand just as tight. Gallo gave the others a nod that it was alright for them to enter her ship. Ratchet opened the side door with a press of the button outside of the ship and stepped inside. He helped Femka and Arlis up after Clank had hopped on board as well.

"Goodbye for now, Lomax. Good luck," Gallo said softly.

Ratchet nodded his head with clever smile and headed off to the front of the vessel as his partner followed him. Arlis and Faas made one final exchange and soon the old man was off to his seat. Femka looked at Gallo before the doors closed. The woman noted her linked hand only wishing the same could happen for the outsider. Somehow Femka knew what she meant and her face turned a nice shade of pink. The doors closed at that moment. Ratchet looked back to the end of the ship seeing Femka still standing there.

"You'd better sit down," he cautioned with a raise of his brows.

"I am, I am," the woman complied with a hurried inflection to her voice as she found her spot and sat there putting her backpack down on the floor and between her legs.

Ratchet turned his head back to the front of the ship and looked out the window. His fingers, swiftly as usual, pressed along the ship's consol to initiate the computer. The vessel's lights turned on and presently did the engine. Within no time the ship lifted off of the ground and from the outside Faas and Gallo watched as it carried up past the tall trees. Femka watched through the window like she always did and soon Yuli became a small spec. The young woman put her seatbelt on when things started to feel bumpy. The ship broke though the atmosphere of Vozik and the green planet became another glimmer in the background as the ship picked up speed.

"Shall I set the coordinates to Igliak?" Clank asked pressing some buttons on the holo-keyboard.

"Nah, I was thinking somewhere else."

Clank blinked his eyes at Ratchet with a tilt of his head.

"Put in the coordinates to Kerwan. I think Femka should see a little more than just Polaris before she leaves," he smiled.

Femka's head lifted up from her seat behind the two and Ratchet smiled noticing her behind him.

"Well, I promised I'd show you something. We might not make it to Veldin but Kerwan is the next best thing."

"Is it better than Igliak?" she smiled.

"There's no comparison," he boasted.

Femka giggled once maintaining her smile. She was excited to see more of their worlds.

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"Good question. I haven't been to this side of the universe before." Ratchet titled his head an inch to his friend. "Clank, got an estimate?"

"After downloading the coordinates and not including the distance from Solana to Kerwan, it should take us roughly twenty hours."

"These trips keep getting longer…" The mechanic sighed gripping at his controls.

"Mister Marlow, will you be alright traveling?" Clank asked looking at the researcher from over his seat.

The old man nodded sitting in one of the chairs near the back and off to the side.

"It'll help me think, if anything," he shrugged.

"And I might assume that you are used to this by now, Miss Femka?"

"Yep." Her head bobbed.

"Before we get to Solana we should stop somewhere in Bogon. And… probably before then." Ratchet scratched his chin. "I don't know if this ship has any provisions."

"I shall check," Clank volunteered hopping off of his seat and walking to the back past Arlis.

"Well, even if it does," he began and looked back to Femka, "maybe we can still stop somewhere anyway for more sightseeing."

"Makes me wish I had a camera with me."

"You can use your comm-link as one."

"I can?" Her brow rose and she took out the small round device to examine it.

"Yeah, sure. I'll show you."

Ratchet left his seat after engaging the autopilot function and sat in the seat next to Femka. She gave him the device when he put his hand out as to ask for it.

"See this button here? Press it and scroll through these options here. I know you can read it but just try to memorize it."

Femka nodded and watched carefully.

"Then scroll here, press the button again, then that's it. Take a picture with the same button and it'll show up as a hologram. Because I'm pretty sure you've noticed everything is holographic here."

She smiled staring at the device like she was a little kid.

"I wish I knew this earlier," she frowned. "I would've taken so many pictures."

"I'm sorry, I forgot to mention it. Well, it's never too late to start," he suggested with optimism.

"How am I supposed to hold it?"

She looked at the thing unsure of what part actually took the picture. She finally figured it out just looking at the holo-display on her communicator. Femka held up the device to Ratchet until his face was in the center of the shot and she pressed the button to the side. There was a small beeping sound followed by a very fast flash. The picture she took was already displayed as a hologram in the center of her comm-link. Femka smiled happily pleased with her accomplishment and proceeded to take pictures of everything. She undid her seatbelt and moved to the pilot's seat sitting on the chair for a moment to take pictures of the space that surrounded them. She was fascinated! Her head turned back to Ratchet with an exaggerated, happy grin. Naturally, she took another photo of him, too. Clank had finally returned as he was walking toward them and Femka found it necessary to capture him as well on her comm-link. The small robot blinked his big eyes and looked at his smiling friend who shrugged one shoulder.

"She's enjoying the camera function."

"Ah, yes, indeed."

"So, are there any rations onboard?"

"Yes. A few. But I believe it is more than plenty to last us until we reach the Solana galaxy." Clank climbed back into his chair.

Ratchet looked skeptically at his friend.

"What _kind_ of rations? They weren't from Sepria, were they?"

"I am not certain, though I must assume that they probably are."

The Lombax gestured his upper lip outward in disgust and stuck out his tongue to which Femka took a picture of. She smiled brightly at him when he stared at her with a dry expression.

"We'll stop somewhere for food," he said looking at Clank. "In fact, I'd like to go somewhere now. I haven't eaten yet since I woke up."

"And I need to take more pictures," Femka declared.

"Exactly."

Clank looked down at the computer's display of information about the area they were traveling through.

"It seems like there are a few artificial planets that we will be approaching soon."

"Set the coordinates for the closest one and leave the autopilot on," Ratchet instructed.

"Affirmative."

• • •

Femka remained in Ratchet's seat until there was something coming closer to her view and the ship dramatically began to slow down. It was the artificial planet. It actually wasn't a planet, because it was much too small—even smaller than a dwarf planet. More like an artificial hub. It was about the size of a small city all around. Other ships were flying around it, leaving it or entering it. There wasn't much space given how small it was, so teleporting onto the sphere was the main method of entry via tele-station that extended externally from the artificial rock like a quayside. Around the artificial creation was its own steady supply of oxygen. There was a clear, yet visible shield that encircled the planet. When the micro-planet was up close Femka immediately took a picture. This quickly became her new hobby. She moved away from the pilot's position and let Ratchet guide the ship manually to the dock. The side of the ship hovered next to a port that would attach alongside the vessel.

"What're you gonna do about the ship when we leave it?" Femka asked watching Ratchet leave his seat.

"I'm just gonna leave it to orbit around on autopilot. It should be fine," he said walking over to the side door.

The woman followed to the back of the ship behind Clank and Arlis stood up as well.

"You can just do that?" she commented again on the subject still confused. "How do you know no one will run into it or something? Won't other people be doing the same thing with their ships?"

"Yeah, they will, but that's why spaceships are supposed to be smart. The computer will be aware of any actions outside, so it'll avoid any collisions."

Femka stood there confused yet bemused and watched the door open and Ratchet walk through it.

"Neat," she said quietly and amazed.

Arlis stood behind her as the other two left the ship to the tele-station.

"Your planet must be an interesting place without the things you've seen here," he guessed.

"Yeah, it is. It kind of makes me jealous. When I go back home the things I thought that were convenient will be extremely inopportune compared to the stuff here." She bit the inside of her mouth with a small grumble.

"It wasn't always like this. You should always keep in mind that everything starts as nothing in order to become something later."

Femka looked up at the wise man. He and Clank shared a lot of attributes. Her hair fell to the sides of her face as she mustered a reluctant smile. He was right.

"Are you guys coming, or not?" Ratchet said peeking his head back into the craft.

Arlis smiled at Femka who couldn't help but return the gesture and the two exited the small vessel and entered the platform at the tele-station. She watched from her position as some aliens walked into a chamber and vanished. It reminded Femka of the railcars on Meridian when they disappeared to another track or line. Teleportation still wasn't her thing. It felt funny. A weird tingling sensation went through her body the last time she teleported on the train. But this was official now. Ratchet pressed a button on his comm-link that closed the ship's side door and then another that gave a command to let the ship commence to autopilot. It flew away from the station when the platform's doors closed and went to orbit the populated sphere. Femka examined the teleporter. There was more than one. Her eyes shifted cautiously back to Ratchet who stood next to her.

"Well, ladies first," he chuckled out with a coy smile.

"Can't we all go together?"

"It's not advised that more than one person uses the same site." The mechanic cringed.

Femka was silent for a second and looked to the chamber again. Her head turned to another direction watching an alien use the device next to her. He just vanished after he pressed a few buttons. The teleporter would take the user to the bottom of the shaft. It was just easier than implementing an elevator or stairs considering how high it was from the actual sphere itself.

"I'll press the buttons for you," Ratchet offered. "And I'll follow right after."

Her nose scrunched and the woman fixed her glasses again slowly stepping onto the pad inside the chamber. Ratchet began pressing the buttons inside before the doors closed.

"I can't be in here with you, but you press this one, and then that green one. You'll have to press the last one yourself."

The mechanic quickly stepped out of the chamber and the doors closed leaving Femka in there alone. She stared at the green button and reached out to it with her quivering index finger. Her eyes shut tightly and she hastily pressed it with a jab. There was a loud sound around her and suddenly she was wrapped in a green and blue light. Her eyes opened a hair just to catch her own body dematerializing right before her in a flash. Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her throat, that's how terrifying that moment was for her. But the room came back within a second. What seemed like minutes was actually barely a second long. The process was fast—very fast. The doors to the chamber were already right in front of her. They opened promptly, a voice following after.

"Please exit the chamber for next personnel," the female voice spoke.

Femka's eyes were widened and she hurried out of the chamber, the doors closing behind her already. She only could stand there with a disorientated visage as people passed her by. Within the same amount of time it took Femka to reach the ground Ratchet came out of the teleporter. He saw her a few feet away from the busy capsules and noticed her disturbed face. It made him laugh. Femka jolted her head at him presenting an angry pout.

"It's not funny…"

Ratchet dipped his head down but kept his eyes on her and smiled cutely. Oh, was he using his charm to get the best of her? Femka's eyes drifted away after she sucked the inside of her mouth inward. He chuckled again forcing her to look back at him with a grumpy exhale through her nostrils. Her cheeks were turning red again, though mostly out of embarrassment this time. Femka caught the sight of Arlis and Clank walking towards them and soon tried to dismiss her friend laughing at her. Clank was the first to speak again looking up at his companion in question.

"Our fist destination, Ratchet?"

"Any place with food."

The Lombax took out his nav-unit attempting to download a map of the area. It could easily be explored in a day or so given the size. After obtaining a digital map Ratchet tapped a single finger on his chin looking for a place that was decent enough. His head motioned away from his nav-unit trying to stare through all the aliens that were walking about. He let out a small hum with his mouth closed.

"Alright, this way," he said taking the lead.

The others whimsically followed. Femka took her comm-link back out and continued with her earlier-found hobby, taking pictures of all the things she thought were worth it. She was starting to fall behind every time she felt like she had to stop so she could get a good photo of something. Her pace would quicken and she would reunite with the small group. There was a thick, dense crowd forming about as they walked along the street. Femka stared up seeing a statue of something she thought as familiar. She stopped to look intently at the metal design. It was of Captain Qwark. Ah, now she remembered. She recalled Ratchet talking about him and how much he bothered the Lombax, also the conversation she overheard aboard Ratchet's other ship. She smiled and took a picture of the statue for the sake of memorabilia.

"Hey, Ratchet," she called out. "Did you miss this or… Ratchet?" her head turned about with her body.

Femka lost sight of her friends within the crowd. She bit her bottom lip in a worry the cluster of people became sparse. The girl swung herself around deciding to head in the direction she thought they had gone but only bumped into another alien who was in the middle of deep conversation with a few others like him.

"So, there I was, fighting on Aranos against this massive Guhltawk, and… hey!"

The big brute turned around seeing Femka looking back up at him with an apologetic face. His eye squinted and he growled.

"Watch where you're goin' you… wait a minute." He paused leaning into the woman's personal space with one bigger than the other still. "I remember you…" He snorted. "You're that girl that crazy man ordered us to go after."

"Uhh…" Femka's eyes swung back and forth as she took a step away from the alien.

"You know that man put me and my "associates" through hell, little girl." He grabbed her by the cuff of her shirt lifting her off of the ground. "So, where's your little Lombax boyfriend?"

Femka reached her hands to wrap around his larger hand to try and force herself free.

"Let go of me! I didn't do anything to you!"

The alien looked back at his friends with a sarcastic appearance and they all laughed at the gesticulation. His eyes glared at her again showing his ridged, sharp teeth. Femka's stare intensified and she struggled again. A small thought crossed over her mind. It had been awhile since she used her power. Now would be a good time to electrocute the thug holding onto her. Her hands began to glow like they would whenever she summoned her strength from within. The alien looked at her strangely seeing the glow on her hands and she grabbed onto his arm forcing a jolt of electricity unto him. He yelled in pain dropping her to the ground. Femka fell on her rear with a small grunt. Something was wrong. She felt strange. There wasn't a lot of energy flowing through her, not like how she remembered it. Maybe the need for it wasn't so strong? The thug rubbed his arm and growled back at Femka, his friends stood just as tall next to him and behind him giving the girl the same stare. Well, now she felt like panicking. Her fingers fumbled onto her comm-link trying to press the button that would call Ratchet. She continuously pressed it jumping to her feet and keeping her hands out letting the flow of Neroltrium spark of her finger tips. There it was again this strange feeling. The young woman looked at her hands and noticed the sparks getting smaller. Her expression appeared baffled and she stared up at the mean aliens that looked down on her.

"Are you done staring at your hands, pretty girl?" he cracked his knuckles within each hand.

Up ahead, Ratchet finally turned back noticing that Femka wasn't following them. His ears pushed upward and he stopped to look in all directions.

"Where's Fem?"

Clank and Arlis stopped as well to look about. They hadn't wandered too far from the statue the woman was still at but regardless, they had no idea she was there.

"Perhaps we lost her in that crowd a moment ago?" Clank proposed. "She was taking pictures."

Ratchet prepared a sigh but it was interrupted by his comm-link receiving the call that Femka sent out multiple times.

"Femka?" he answered it. "Where are you?" his tail wagged curiously.

"Ratchet, help!" her voice yelled. "I'm by the Qwark statue!"

His ears perked again when he heard another voice in the background making a crude comment. Without hesitation he ran toward the statue. The others could still see it from where they stood but they stuck closely behind Ratchet and hurried to Femka's location. The mechanic saw Femka who was once again being gripped onto.

"Hey!" he yelled out to the group of thugs.

"You!" the alien growled looking back at Ratchet. "I've got a bone to pick with you…"

"You can pick a fight with me after you get your hands off of her."

The alien snorted a laugh and tossed Femka down in front of him causing her to let out a sound of discomfort from hitting the ground so suddenly. Ratchet ran over to her and picked her up by her under arms until she stood on her feet.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked examining her body.

Her head shook and she looked at her faintly glowing hands.

"Ratchet something weird is going on," she whispered. "I think I'm losing the effects of the Neroltrium…"

The mechanic squinted his eyes at her in contemplation but his thoughts were bothered by the aliens a few feet behind them.

"Let's go, rodent!" he said grinding his teeth.

Ratchet rolled his eyes and looked at Femka.

"Gimme a minute."

He patted her shoulder and proceeded to walk around her over to the group of smug aliens. Femka watched in concern but moved towards Arlis and Clank for a safe distance.

"Are you alright?" Arlis asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Your hands, is that the effect?"

The translator nodded and looked down at her hands again. The colors were fading still.

"Yeah, but I think it's leaving, though. I don't know why."

Arlis continued to stare at her hands quizzically, his expression deep and thoughtful. Seeing something like this in person was frankly pretty amazing to him. It fascinated him that this mysterious material had such immense powers and qualities. His mesmerized gaze was taken away by the sound of the big, heavy alien up ahead who laughed at Ratchet while he stood there with his hands on his hips. The other aliens laughed as well.

"Should he be doing something like this?" Arlis asked.

"Ratchet will be perfectly fine." Clank cleared all worries.

"Are you just gonna laugh at me or what?" Ratchet lifted his brows to compliment his mordant frown.

"Oh, we'll fight, hand to hand," he sniveled prepping his body to some fighting stance.

The people that were walking about took notice in the interesting display but didn't think of it as anything serious. Everyone basically kept at their easy pace until the angry alien decided to let out some loud war cry that shifted a few heads to his direction. The massive brute charged at Ratchet and threw a punch with his fist at him. The mechanic ducked—in sight of being short, he was hard to hit for a man who was too tall—and took a swing at the thug's stomach. His hand was shaken with a crack as the effect of the punch hardly did a thing to the tall alien. Ratchet inhaled with a gasp of air shaking his hand at the instant pain.

"Aaahhaah…," he sighed out deeply, rubbing his hand. "That didn't work…"

"You're gonna have to try better than that," the alien grinned wide.

His hand reached out and picked up the small Lombax by his collar letting his feet dangle off from the ground.

"You're not so tough without your wrench, are ya?" His grin beamed smugly.

"Well, my wrench isn't the only thing that I use for fighting."

The alien pulled the mechanic closer to his face with a deep growl as to attempt more intimidation. Ratchet was digging around his belt as his eyes were met directly with the monster that held him. He pulled out his comm-link and fumbled his fingers around the device until he found the button he was looking for. His arm quickly lifted up the device and red light point at the alien's eyes. Instinctively he stared right into it when it was positioned right in front of his face. His pupils went small and his eyes watered leaving Ratchet free from his grasp. The tall thug rubbed his eyes cursing at the Lombax and he took the opportunity to make his strike up-kicking the alien in his face and watching him stumbled backwards onto his bottom. He rubbed his face and glared at the mechanic as he stood back on his feet, a drip of blood moistened his hand.

"You cheated!"

"I didn't think a guy of your profession would really care." Ratchet shrugged casually.

"I take my job very seriously!" he snorted angrily reaching to the holster that was on the side of his belt.

Ratchet was wise to his action and brought out his trustworthy wrench, tossing it at the man's hand forcing him to retract it back upward. The mechanic's tool mystically wounded up back in his hand and he landed another strike to his stomach, this time being much more effective. The alien released his breath opening his mouth in the shape of an "o" and he held his stomach bending over and eventually falling to his knees. Ratchet's elbow came into collision with the base of his skull and the winded brute fell forward completely onto the ground. The accomplished Lombax tossed his wrench to the air with a pleased smile and looked over at the fallen alien's companions who stood there staring down at him. They turned their gaze over to Ratchet who caught his wrench and then again at each other. Some people or robots that were walking by kept their distance, some even stayed just to watch the fight; but it was over quick.

"Do you guys want a piece of me, too?" Ratchet frowned at the other brutes.

"Uuhhh…" One nearly drooled in thought.

"…No? No." The other scratched his head.

"Good."

A heavy sigh slipped through his opened mouth as Ratchet walked back to his friends. His eyes rolled up and his head shook.

"Fem," Ratchet began, putting his hands on the woman's shoulders when he approached her.

"…Yes?"

"Was taking a picture of a statue of Qwark really worth it? I mean, _really_?"

He gave her that same face like he made earlier when he laughed at her expression after she used the teleporter. Femka was silent but a smile slowly crept along the corners of her mouth and her eyes looked away.

"Nothing good ever comes from Qwark, even things Qwark-related, like a statue of Qwark. As a matter of fact," Ratchet turned to glance at the statue, "I don't even know why this place has that here anyway." He stared at Femka again in utter confusion and shook his head to regain his composure. "Do I have to hold your hand so you won't get lost and into trouble?"

"If you want to…"

Femka's face shyly looked away. That wasn't the answer Ratchet was expecting at all. He blinked several times confusedly at her taking his hands away from her shoulders. He said it as a joke but it made him instantly shy because of what she said. His thoughts resurfaced about his talk with Clank the other day when he made his conclusion concerning Femka's feelings toward him. Was she taking this as an opportunity? Or was he just thinking too deeply about it? In any case, her answer left him speechless only saying, "Um". When he fumbled with his words, Arlis smiled letting a tiny chuckle through his teeth making Ratchet turn his head in discomfort. Femka watched Ratchet as he gave her a quick, awkward smile that hastily went to a frown and he stepped around her to continue onward to their destination. The woman was consumed by a frown herself and a hint of anxiety crept over her shoulders.

"_Did I… do something wrong?"_ she wondered like the paranoiac she was.

Now there was every unwanted thought invading her mind. Sure, what she did was indeed a trick to try and hold his hand. She saw the moment and took it. But did it turn him off? Was he wise to her actions? Did he even find her attractive then? If he didn't, then does that mean she shouldn't even seek him out as her companion? Femka's thoughts made her feel awkward the whole walk to their destination. Clank observed the whole thing carefully and as did Arlis. The robot and the researcher exchanged glances to one another along their walk. The old man knew the signs very well, which was why he couldn't help but chuckle moments ago. Femka walked behind them all, this time not taking any pictures. She just sort of stared at the ground until they made it to a place to eat. And even while there she continued her absentminded act.

"Would you care to eat something, Miss Femka?" Clank asked snapping the girl out of her daydream.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks. I'm a little hungry."

When they sat somewhere to eat the meal Femka at first poked her food and then finally consumed it. Once again, she had no idea what she was eating and after this happening so much she just gave up. If she liked it, then that was all that was to it. If not, then oh well. But the whole time they were there to eat she was quiet. Infrequently she would momentarily look at Ratchet and then back at her food. There was a point that he caught her looking at him but his face turned away almost instantaneously. Femka frowned feeling like he was irritated with her or something. She finished her food soon but still kept quiet the remainder of the meal. When they left, Ratchet brought extras with him in a small package for the journey back home. Just like before, Femka was the one who was in the back of the group. The mechanic looked back just to make sure she was still there. And she was, she was just looking at her feet. They all finally arrived to the transporter station again. Femka wasn't anticipating this part again. She crossed her arms to comfort herself and to try and prep herself for another weird undertaking. Arlis was the first to go up followed by Clank. Ratchet would wait for Femka to go first so he knew she wouldn't be left behind. He nodded his head to the chamber telling her to, "Go ahead". The moment of truth came once again when she had to press that big green button and suffer through what seemed like she was being "deleted out of reality". Her heart pounded when she made it to the top and shook her shoulders, clenching her hands as well, and stepping out of the chamber to meet with Clank and Arlis who were making small conversation together. A few seconds later, Ratchet arrived with his tail swaying slowly behind him with the package in his hands. They waited atop the station platform a moment until their ship finally came back from floating directionless in around the planet. It was the same procedure as before: the ship docked to the side, the ship's side doors opened, a link was established between the port and the ship and then the doors to the port opened allowing the four to enter the ship at last. The side doors closed and Ratchet took the package of food to the storage room in the back and then proceeded to the front seat where his partner sat right to the side. Femka took her seat behind the two and Arlis did the same like before, sitting in the back in his own company. The ship soon blasted off from the artificial rock and in seconds it became a small speck in space. The young woman watched out through the window like she often did still took pictures when she would see something worth it—it all seemed worth it.

Twelve hours into their trip and two more meals eaten, there was still eight hours left and that didn't include the duration to get to Kerwan. That might take an hour or more longer. Femka was tired and on the verge of falling asleep in her chair. It was still hard thing to accomplish for her, though. She couldn't sleep sitting up, even though she had done it when they were traveling to Vozik. That time might have been an exception to her body's rules and regulations given who was sitting next to her. Femka finally left her seat and retreated to the back of the ship where the bed was. Her eyes were heavy and she was yawning every two minutes. On her way to the back she saw that Arlis was already asleep and lightly snoring. When the sleepy woman arrived at the bed she tumbled into it and took off her glasses keeping them in her hand. Almost like the turn of a switch she was off and out.

Up front Ratchet was carefully watching the space in front of him. He sighed when Femka was out of the room and the door to the resting quarters was shut. Clank looked up at his friend after the cat-like alien let out a yawn.

"Ratchet, is there something bothering you?" he questioned with a little blink of his eyes.

"Ah," Ratchet sighed out, "is it that obvious?"

"Yes. You have been sighing a lot for the past twelve hours and also twitching your ear."

Once again he sighed in near closeness to agitation. He kept his hands firm on the controls of the ship.

"It's…," he stopped and quieted his voice after looking behind him. "It's about Femka."

"What about her?"

"C'mon, Clank, you know already…" His nose twitched.

"About what you told me on Sepria?"

"Yeah, that."

"And that is what is bothering you?" Clank titled his head unsurely.

"Err, no… but…" The mechanic rubbed the base of his ear. "Okay, just bare with me for a minute. It's about what happened on that artificial planet and…"

"Oh, yes. I remember." Clank nodded his head recalling the small incident. "I noticed something was wrong then. Also, Miss Femka would not speak."

"Yeah…"

"Is her quiet behavior bothering you?"

"No, it's not that, it's the other thing that made her quiet."

"Which other thing?"

"Ah, Clank, you're killin' me…," he grumbled exhaling a deep sigh. "When I offered to hold her hand."

"Ah, yes, I recall this. Why did you not just say so?"

"That's what I was driving at. I said it as a joke. I know she likes me but after I said that I didn't expect her to say what she said. I know she's shy but now I'm shy." His upper lip rose to one corner.

"You are shy to talk to Miss Femka?"

"Yes."

"Because she agreed to hold your hand?"

"Yes, basically."

"I do not understand, Ratchet."

"Neither do I," the pilot sank back into his chair.

"I do think I see your problem, however." The little robot tapped the exterior of his metal chin pensively.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. As it would turn out you have affection for Miss Femka. But you are bad with women."

"Thanks, Clank…"

"Ratchet, if you both hold the same fondness, then would it not make sense to share it with one another?"

"No, it makes perfect sense but it's not that easy…" He grumbled again. "I made it harder for myself. She probably thinks I'm angry at her because I won't talk to her or look at her. And now I have to explain myself inevitably telling her the truth."

"Hmm… You have dug your own grave, correct?"

"Uh-huh."

"Be confident, Ratchet. I am certain that you will think of something. After all, we can never let our feelings be without purpose. We all must express how we feel at some point."

The mechanic glanced over at his optimistic friend who stared back concerned. He smiled weakly and sighed deeply letting his chest rise and fall.

"Yeah, you're right." He stared off ahead silent for a moment. "I'd better start thinking."


	17. Last Days

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Are you still planning to stop by anywhere in the Bogon galaxy, Ratchet? Clank asked his friend in the midst of their quiet travel. "We are not far out of the way. However, we are almost near the Solana galaxy."

"Huh?"

"Are you still pondering about your dilemma?" the robot said noticing Ratchet's inattentiveness.

The mechanic shook his head and blinked his eyes to gather back his concentration. He had been thinking this entire time. His mouth opened up to speak but a yawn came out instead.

"Sorry, pal. I'm just tired."

"Why not engage the autopilot? I can be the lookout for now. We have only three more hours until we reach the Solana galaxy."

"I'll be alright. If it's only a few hours, then I can handle it," he pressed but sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. "I was caught up in a daydream, I completely forgot about making a pit stop."

"I do not think Miss Femka will take it personally."

"Yeah."

Ratchet was disappointed in himself for having been so caught up in his thoughts but his self-cruelty would only last until the thing that was bothering him could be resolved. Typically, he wasn't a person who could be so hard on himself, but when there were other people he felt like he needed to please, then that was a different story. The Lombax felt how heavy his eyelids had become. He had been up for awhile now and still flying the ship for about seventeen hours. Maybe taking Clank's offer would be the best idea but he just didn't feel like it. His fingers would stay firm on the controls until it was time to land on Kerwan; his eyes would try to focus on the deep space in front of him in the meantime.

Femka opened her eyes after what only felt like a blink and yawned deeply realizing she was lying on her glasses. She situated her body upward taking her glasses out from underneath her and looking through them seeing the smudges that were covering the lenses. The young woman lain back down putting her head down on the pillow and leaving her glasses in her hand to fiddle with. Her thoughts cleared and her mind became more awake. She wondered if they were arriving to Kerwan yet. The ship still felt like it was in fast motion but it was hard to tell. Anyway, it didn't seem like it was slowing down. There were no bumps. Femka moved her body and lain on her back staring up at the ceiling. She took her dirty glasses and cleaned them with her shirt and put them back on her sleepy face. She softly sighed still feeling the heaviness of her current problem weighing on her chest. Well, there were a few problems she had in mind, not just one. But the biggest one kept her feeling uncomfortable. She forced herself to sit up and throw her legs over the edge of the bed; her palms firmly gripped the sheets lying flat. After a moment of staring at her feet she slid off of the bed and walked towards the small, metal door. It opened just a few inches in front of her and she saw from where she stood the entire inside of the ship. Ratchet was still sitting in his chair up front at the controls, Clank was right beside him typing on the computer, and Arlis was sitting in his seat off to the side having been awake for a little while now and thinking. Femka sat across from him and found her backpack forgetting that she had put it there earlier. She took out a small brush and played with it in her hands looking out the window at all the wonders of the galaxy before them. They had arrived in the Solana galaxy an hour ago, meaning that their trip was past twenty hours and they would be reaching Kerwan any moment. Femka slowly brushed her hair noticing frequently that ships were passing them by and likewise they were passing them. They went so fast. The woman yawned once more placing her brush in her backpack and resting into her chair. Arlis became conscious to Femka's presence and smiled to her. She gave him the same gesture but wondered what he was thinking of. She wondered if he had come up with the plans already for their hypothetical device. Her feelings would remain mixed about the idea until it finally was time. She still didn't want to leave… Well… She did. But it was more complicated than that. Nevertheless, there was silence for a little while until the two up front began talking.

"We are approaching Kerwan," Clank announced still typing on the computer's holo-keyboard.

"Making preparations for landing," Ratchet said with a yawn.

"_Was he awake this whole time?"_ Femka thought hearing his yawn.

She placed her seatbelt over her lap and chest and Arlis did the same at once. The planet was visible and growing larger by the second. The sun was directly in their view as well; it forced Femka to squint and cover her eyes. The ship descended going away from the sun and down toward the planet. In Metropolis it was morning, the sun was just coming over the horizon. The young woman watched as the planet became wider than the ship and soon a big image of blue and green filled the view. The details became more and more clear as they approached the planet through the atmosphere. The feeling of gravity was the strangest sensation—second strangest to the feeling Femka got when she teleported at least. She could feel the ship going forward toward the terrain but eventually it straightened up. There were so many flying ships; it never ceased to amaze her. But this place was starting to look even more beautiful. There were no more bumps and the ship was perfectly stable and Femka could see all the buildings are things around them as they came closer to the city. The most distinct colors were the bronze and silver buildings and the green, lush plantation that sprouted around them. Even though the buildings were silver, the touch of sky graced them to be blue and faultless. The ship flew into a stream of traffic and around several buildings. Femka watched the people below and around them walking along pathways and even the Mag-Trains that transported them about. The woman gasped quietly fumbling around for her comm-link. She wanted to hit her head with her hand for not taking pictures sooner—she was just so captivated. Finally, her hobby was back in action and she tried capturing everything that she could. Arlis watched the woman with a smile and a single chuckle. She turned her head in his direction and smiled lightly knowing what he was laughing about. Her glance shifted to the window seeing that they were slowing down now. It looked like they were ready to land. Ratchet guided the ship to land on a bronze platform just below them. The vessel made a loud sound as it powered down and at last it stopped as the computers powered off. Ratchet undid his seatbelt and stretched his arms and legs out with a large yawn. The sun's premature glow attempted to shine on him through the buildings and he only grunted rubbing his eyes. Clank left his seat and walked past Femka and Arlis over to the side door.

"Good morning, Miss Femka," he said opening the ship's panel.

"Good morning." She smiled.

"Good morning, Mister Marlow," he also gave greetings to the old man.

"Good morning, Clank." His head nodded with a smile.

The three stood by the door as it opened and Clank was the first to step out. Arlis left the vessel watching his step and Femka looked at the ground and then back to where Ratchet sat wondering if he was coming or not. She let Clank and Arlis advance toward the building in front of them and went in the front of the ship to the controls seeing that the mechanic was fast asleep in his chair.

"Ratchet?" her voice quietly spoke.

"Hm?" His eyes opened a sliver and he then sat up straight turning his head about registering that he fell asleep in five seconds.

"Are you coming in?"

"Yeah," he yawned another with a stretch of his arms over his head. "But I'm going right to bed. I feel pretty jetlagged…"

The woman felt bad while she watched him tiredly stand up from his spot. He walked ahead of her and hopped out of the ship. Femka grabbed her things and went to the side door seeing Ratchet waiting for her. He helped her out of the ship and steadily made his way to the front of his abode. Femka turned her head in all directions as they walked. The city was impressive. The two arrived at the door and it turned, much like any other door, with a spiral-like fashion into the walls and revealed the inside of Ratchet and Clank's other home. Femka would always think of their style as unique. Their home was much like to one back on Igliak, just a different layout. Ratchet walked ahead of Femka and down a hallway.

"I'm going to bed, Clank," he called out to his friend before disappearing into another room.

The woman peered around a corner to the room that she stood in seeing Clank and Arlis in another room sitting down. Well, the little robot wasn't sitting at the moment. He seemed to be organizing some things. It must have been some time since they were back on this planet. Femka entered the living room (so to speak) and glanced at all the objects within it. Her eyes focused back on the small robot who was sifting through what she assumed was unread mail.

"Uh, say, Clank," she said uncertain, "could I use your bathroom?"

"Certainly. It is down this hallway and to your left. After you are finished, would you acre for something to eat?" 

"Oh, that would really nice." She smiled gratefully. Her stomach was making noises already.

"And as for you, Mister Marlow? You are hungry as well?"

"I am a little on the famished side."

"I must sort through this mail and then I will commence making a meal for breakfast. I am certain that we still have non-perishables available here." The robot pondered and continued with his task.

Arlis remained in his spot on one of the chairs in the room. He offered to help the robot but he simply declined as the task wouldn't take very long anyway. Though, when he finished, he was appreciative of Arlis's help to make a meal. In the meanwhile, Femka did what she always did in the morning and freshened herself up in the bathroom, getting used to the new mechanics of the shower and sink, and cleaning herself. She ran into a problem when she remembered that all of the clothes she brought weren't clean anymore. Just like her first experience with a bathroom of the future, she would use the automatic dryer after hand-washing her clothes in the shower with soap. It worked fine for her. The easier way might have been to just ask Clank if they had a washing machine somewhere but she would be forced to either wait in a towel or in another pair of dirty clothes. It didn't matter anyway. When she was finished with her mission Femka looked in the foggy mirror at her reflection she saw that her hair was still the same blue and purple but her roots were turning brown.

"The effects really are going away," she spoke to herself parting her hair. "I wonder what Alexander's gonna say when he sees my hair?" she thought with a small crooked smile.

She exhaled a dramatic sigh and stretched her arms up and to the sides. She fixed her clothes and left the bathroom taking her trusty backpack with her. When Femka walked through the living room Clank and Arlis were no longer there. She could her them making some commotion in the kitchen that was on the other side of the room. Her nose caught the smell that wafted through the home.

"_Looks like Clank found something to fix for breakfast,"_ she mentally gathered walking into the kitchen after tossing her stuff on a nearby chair.

"—and that's what I was thinking," Arlis said.

Femka entered the room in the middle of their conversation.

"Then you may use the garage as your workshop for the time being. It would seem that it has the sufficient properties to suit your needs."

"It does. I just need to think a little more, maybe draw out my plans."

The old man looked pensive as he sat at a table in the middle of the room. He greeted the young lady with a "hello" and a friendly smile as she took a seat across from him.

"Are you talking about your device?" she asked curiously.

"Yes. I've had a lot of time to think about it during our flight here and I think I've got everything straightened out in my mind. This might take awhile, though." He scratched his head. "Since your powers are fading, we'll have to use that necklace of yours—but that's just fine. I didn't want to use your ability anyway. I think it would've been too dangerous. Hmm…" The man continued to think.

"Do you want paper?"

"Hm?"

"So you can draw out your plans. I have a lot of paper." Femka shrugged pushing her tongue around her teeth.

"Ah, that would be nice. It's probably better to get my ideas out right now while they're fresh."

Femka nodded as to agree with the man and she left her spot to retrieve her sketchbook and bought it back with her along with a utensil for drawing. The woman placed them in front of Arlis presenting him with a clean page.

"Thank you," he smiled taking the pencil and immediately started writing on the paper.

The translator watched him work fast. She watched him write down in his language and then draw. It was fascinating for her. He was mostly writing notes, however; but that was the most interesting for her. She loved seeing languages she didn't know. And being on a whole new planet gave her that opportunity. Femka, in that instant, recalled her Kyzilian lessons. She felt the urge to keep studying it but it would be useless out of this galaxy and in her own.

"Do you mind if I use more pages?"

Arlis broke Femka away from her thoughts and the woman looked up at him and motioned her hand back and forth.

"Sure, go ahead. But," she paused. "When this is all finished and made, can I keep the blueprints in my sketchbook?"

"I don't see why not." He shrugged with a smile turning the page over to fill the other side.

Her smile beamed happy to hear his answer. Having that would be a nice keepsake as well with all the other things she wanted to take with her. Her head turned around when she heard Clank speaking saying that their meals were finished at last. The robot brought them over with a scamper of his tiny legs and placed them on the table, one in front of Femka and the other in front of the busy Arlis. The two expressed their gratitude and Femka instantly began eating her meal. She questioned in her mind how old the food was that she was eating remembering what Clank said earlier and also assuming it had been awhile since he and Ratchet were last on Kerwan. But it tasted fine. Maybe they mastered the art of preservatives. Arlis touched his food periodically as he would be writing in between bites. Clank sat down with them contently watching the old man write his notes. He pondered himself what all the writing meant and how well-thought out his plans really were. It seemed like he was on a roll, considering he only had a day or so to think about the project.

"Clank," he said suddenly as he looked up from his work, "could you show me the garage one more time? I want to see the equipment more thoroughly."

"Certainly," the little robot obliged jumping off of his seat. "Would you care to join us?" he directed his question to Femka.

"Umm, nah. I'll wait here. But before you go, can you show me how to work the holo-vision set?"

"Naturally."

Like said, Clank demonstrated to the woman how to operate the technology she requested before he and Arlis left to go to the garage. Femka would wait in the kitchen and eat the rest of her food while the two inspected what materials the researcher needed for his schematics. In the garage there were plenty of parts. Most of them were from ships and rockets, however. Arlis stood in the middle of the big hanger and looked about with a brooding, stern and concentrated face at all the objects that were there. He had brought Femka's sketchbook with him and looked through what notes and little drawings he had done and then proceeded to walk over to the scrap pile pushing some objects around and sorting through them.

"Is everything satisfactory?" Clank questioned standing nearby.

"Well, it's hard to say right now. I'm not entirely finished with my plans. I still need time to think. But from the looks of it I'll need some "components", let's say, that I don't think you or Ratchet would just have lying around."

"I see. Is it possible for you to maintain this project by yourself then?"

The old man clutched his hand around his stubbly chin with a mumbled sound of thought.

"I've always been good with designing and making layouts for my plans but I'm never the one who usually builds them."

"Then if you are confident that your plans will work Ratchet and I will build your device. You must simply let Ratchet know what you need. Hopefully we can obtain it on Kerwan alone."

"Hm, this is all theoretic," he motioned with the sketchbook in hand. "I think we'll have to build with trial and error…"

"As most things go."

"It's not a bother?"

"Why should it be?" Clank shrugged. "We all agreed that we wanted for Miss Femka to return home safely. If it takes more than one try, then it is worth the labor."

"Alright then." His head nodded firmly. "I'll keep writing out my ideas and plans and when I think I've hit the end then I'll tell you what we need. I'll stay in here and work for the time being, just so I know what I have to work with already."

"Very well."

Clank left the room as Arlis began his adamant note making once again. Femka was watching the holo-vision in the kitchen still. She seemed pretty content channel surfing. Why not? Everything was new for her even here. Clank walked past the room and into another to go about his own business. He sifted through all of their appropriate mail and found all of the bills that needed to be paid yet—he would tell Ratchet that news when he woke up.

Later in the day, about when the sun was ready to set, Femka had found herself in one room of the duo's home lying about and staring out the window. Arlis and Clank were present as well. The elderly inventor was taking a break from his work having been in the garage most of the day and Clank was taking to reading another one of his books. Femka stared captivated as always at the things that were going on outside. The buildings were tall but from where Ratchet and Clank's establishment stood she could see the sun coming down to the horizon. It was a beautiful sight. A sound took away her captivation from the outside. There was a door opening and closing from down the hall and footsteps that followed. The mechanic was finally awake but still half asleep as he walked past the room where the others were gathered and into the kitchen to look for food. Clank took his attention off from his book placing it on the chair he was sitting in and left the room to see his friend. The Lombax was sticking his head in the cabinets searching around from something edible. There were lots of things in there but they were also pretty old.

"Clank," Ratchet spoke with half of his body inside a cabinet sitting on a countertop, "we need food." He closed the cupboard door.

"I found items earlier that are adequate enough for tonight. Do we plan on staying here long?"

"Long enough that we should get edible food that isn't about to expire," he said sliding off of the countertop.

"Hm, by the way Ratchet, Mister Marlow has been drawing out and writing his plans for this theoretic teleporting device today but he will need our help in assembling it. Also in obtaining the materials."

"Sounds fine to me."

"It could get expensive," the robot worried.

"That's why I'll open up shop again," he shrugged nonchalantly sitting down at the table.

"Have you read all the mail?"

"No, but apparently you have."

Clank sighed shaking his head after watching his friend undo the bandages that were still around his head.

"C'mon, Clank, you worry too much." The mechanic touched the spot on his head where an injury once was. His eye squinted and his teeth gritted when there was still pain to found after he rubbed the area.

"I feel it is my responsibility to worry."

Ratchet placed his chin in his palm as his elbow rested on the table. He smiled seemingly somnolent but patted his friend on the head grateful for his companionship and company. He eventually stood up from his place and took what items Clank had placed out earlier that were safe to eat and decided on making something. He had been asleep for about fourteen hours and his hunger was nagging at him.

"I will ask Miss Femka and Mister Marlow if they would like something to eat as well."

Clank left the area and let Ratchet take to his cooking. The other two were still lounging about in the living room. Femka was sitting up but still satisfied with watching the sun go down. The horizon was a warm red and orange and above it in the sky was blue and purple. High above she could see the stars and constellations—what she thought of as constellations. She was making patterns in her mind. Both Arlis and Femka looked to Clank when he asked them if they would like dinner. Naturally, they didn't decline and the small robot returned to Ratchet to assist him in the creation of the meal. The young woman glanced over to Arlis who started writing in her sketchbook again. She wondered how far his plans had come along. She could see faintly that he used a lot of pages already. Femka stood up from the spot she had been long loafing on after several minutes and left the room. She ventured throughout the complex just to gratify her curiosity. Her feet took her down the hallway that Ratchet came from earlier, his room was at the end. Her inquisitive persona brought her inside the room. The light from the outside shined through several tall windows unto the bed and floor and other things around the room. Femka looked out through one of the tall windows. The glass opened inward up top and outward at the bottom. It seemed efficient; if it were to rain the water fall at the top and drop down not allowing it to enter the room. She recognized the design from her own planet—not from her country. She peered over the windowsill and stuck her upper body out to look down at the world below. There were plenty of flying cars or ships and even a railway right by their building. Femka couldn't see the bottom; it was covered by a thick blue mist. Her eyes watched the sun again as it hid further behind the horizon. Her hands reached for her comm-link so she could take another picture. She didn't know how much longer she would be here, so she wanted to capture every image before her. Femka daydreamt again while leaning into the ledge of the window. The others were already ready for supper. Arlis had finally taken notice to the young lady's absence when his head lifted from the sketchbook. He entered the kitchen thinking that she already went ahead of him to eat but only saw Clank and Ratchet. The two stared back at him and the man shrugged his shoulders not knowing where the woman was. Ratchet took a second to ponder and left the kitchen to search for Femka. He was halfway down the hall to his room after looking in other places and noticed his door was opened and there Femka was staring out the window. He didn't approach her. Instead he went back to the kitchen and grabbed something for her and himself and went to take it to her. He saw this as an opportunity to try and clear the awkward mess between them. Ratchet's actions seemed to lack hesitance but his courage was dwindling and his pride was being swallowed. He took a quick sigh before he entered the room and tapped the side of the door with his foot to grab Femka's attention. Her head quickly turned, almost startled by the sound, and she stared while the door closed behind him.

"I brought you something to eat," he spoke softly with a perk of his brows.

"Thanks."

Femka took her plate of food and sat down partially on the windowsill, Ratchet was nearby resting back against the wall. She held a piece of the food underneath her nose with her fork and ate it slowly. It tasted good, whatever it was. She couldn't help but stare down at her food the whole time she ate, though. There wasn't any conversation and that only made the atmosphere more discomfited for the both of them. The woman put her food to the side on the flat surface of the window and at last articulated her thoughts that harassed her this whole time.

"Are you mad at me?"

Her question took the man off guard and his eyes blinked while they both stared at each other. His head shook and he placed his food down elsewhere as well.

"No, no, of course I'm not mad at you. But I, um…"

He paused uncertain to continue. Femka followed his eyes that drifted to the side and down to the ground.

"If you're upset with me, then…"

"No, Fem… It's a little difficult to explain. I'm not good with these things." He scratched his ear. "I guess you could say that I've had something on my mind, too, like you, but I didn't really consider it until a little bit ago."

"What was it?"

"Ah, heh…"

His shoulders gently raised and dropped as a nervous laugh fell out of his mouth. He took his gaze back onto Femka and the woman stared at him puzzled until a realization fathomed in her brain. Her body perked and so did her eyebrows. He mouth was hung open a crack and she narrowed her eyes only a little and tilted her head as to ask for confirmation for what she was thinking. He was making that same face like he gave her back at the tele-station. Ratchet's eyes were big and innocent, his nose turning more pink.

"Have you been thinking about me?" Her face was full of hope and her cheeks of blush. "Oh…" She bit her lip and looked down when his head nodded slowly. "Can I confess something? I know I kept telling you that I'd been thinking about someone but I kept pushing it aside and making you guess and wonder."

"I know."

"…Do you know who it is?" Her thumbs twiddled.

She didn't look at him but his head nodded and his hands reached out for hers to pull them apart. He held each of them within his hands and rubbed soothingly her fingers with his thumbs. Femka's heart skipped a beat just by the touch alone. She felt shivers travel from her spine and swell in her cheeks on her face. Her shy eyes lifted to gaze back at him, her feet standing now on the ground and her height nearly matching his. She felt rapt by his stare; she wasn't sure of what to do and her heart kept beating fast. Femka did the only thing she thought was appropriate and walked in closer to him pushing her hands up his chest and around his neck. She looked at him for a second but promptly averted her gaze downward. She could feel the warmth of his hands sliding down her sides and around her waist. It forced a sudden exhale of her breath. The hairs on her neck stood on end when the soft pair of hands drifted from her sides and up to her shoulders reaching to her face. The pair was placed on either side of her face forcing her to look up at him. Femka swallowed the saliva that gathered in her opened mouth and boldly stared at the person's visage whose was less than an inch in front of her. Oh, she had wanted so badly for her dream to come to life but when the moment was there it made her anxious and uncertain. She'd kissed before some other guy a long time ago but the feeling it gave her then couldn't compare to what she was about to feel now. Femka closed her eyes before it happened—that's what everyone did when the kissed, right?—and the man that stood in front of her took it as another invitation, though he was just as nervous as she. Ratchet held in his breath when both of their noses met and softly pressed his lips onto hers. His eyes closed soon and he felt Femka's arms tense around his neck. Their bodies pushed lightly against each other and Ratchet kept his hands firmly on her face and pressed against her mouth more passionately with every kiss. Femka felt weak at her knees but yearned to make the moment last and followed his lead. He kissed her once more and took his lips away to gauge her reaction. The woman was breathing quickly but quietly and her eyes opened after his hands were taken away from her face. She stared at him longingly with a small smile that hid her lust.

"Please don't stop," she whispered, her hands trickling down his shoulders and chest. "I'm old enough to know what I want."

Her words alone were affirmation and feeling her hands and fingers run along his chest made it look like he was hypnotized altogether. Femka began to motion Ratchet backward toward the bed that was several feet behind him. It was evident to him what she had meant by what she had just said. He backed away from her taking a hold of her hands and sitting down on the bed behind him looking up at her as she stood there in front of him. Of course her heart was still pounding. What the woman said seconds ago didn't register completely but when she looked down at Ratchet she knew he apparently wanted it like she did. He rubbed her hands to encourage her and Femka slowly sat on his lap facing him and loosely wrapping her legs around him. Being this close to him made her blush so much. She placed her hands on his shoulders while he slowly slid his around her waist and down her thighs. Femka gasped when she felt his mouth kiss around her neck. She could see his tail swaying slowly behind him until his face obstructed her view and she was forced to look into his eyes once again. A hand of his came to push back the hair that had fallen in front of her shy face. She smiled bashfully pushing herself more forward, closer to him, until her chest was against his. Ratchet wrapped his arms around her tightly and she did the same for him. Her head rested on his shoulder and she sighed contentedly feeling such satisfaction being so close to the guy she admired.

"Ratchet?" she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"I want to be with you." Her eyes closed. "I know I can't have you forever but I want to have you tonight…"

She lifted her head and stared back at Ratchet who kept his hands firm on her arms. Before he answered her, he pressed his lips again onto hers and gripped her tight letting her know that he was all hers. A muffled sound left her mouth and soon Femka found herself on lying on her back with Ratchet on top and gazing down upon her.

"You've got me as long as you want," he whispered letting his hand glide down her chest and stomach.

Femka's eyes closed as she exhaled again a long, soft sigh. She let her body be ready for something she would never forget. The moments that were about to happen would be the closest things to her heart than anything else. Femka lusted after this more and more because of her fantasies from the dream she had. It wasn't just that alone, however. She didn't know why she felt so attracted to him. Maybe because he was different than anything else she had seen before or maybe it was just because he was nice. But her attraction to him was strong. She wanted everything that he had to offer and he wanted the same from her.

• • •

Her eyes flickered open seeing the blurred, white image of a pillow that consumed the side of her face. Femka was waking up. The room was bright letting the sunlight shine in. The air was cool today and drifted through the opened windows filling the spaces that weren't being occupied underneath the blanket. Femka felt the presence that had been with her the whole night close by her. The blankets were covering up to the woman's bare shoulders, an arm wrapped around her. Finally she was waking up more and remembering everything that had happened last night. Femka rubbed her tired eyes and yawned once looking back at the sleeping being behind her. Ratchet's face was buried into her neck. She could feel the breath he exhaled hitting her gently. Her face turned red as all the thoughts came back to her but she turned her body around and hid herself in him wrapping her legs around his. She slid her arm around him as well and closed her eyes.

"_We were up for awhile…,"_ she thought to herself. _"I still feel tired."_ Femka's lips curled into a smile.

Ratchet didn't fall asleep until later after Femka given that he had slept already most of the day yesterday. But he did ask to be woken up whenever she was. The shy woman opened her eyes again remembering the request. She took her face away from him and stared at the dreaming Lombax before running her fingers through the fur on his face.

"_I'll feel guilty for waking him but that's what he wants,"_ Femka thought with a shrug and shook the side of his face. "Wake up," she said in a raspy whisper.

There was a low crackling grumble and Ratchet's eyebrows twitched and furrowed. Femka wasn't satisfied with the results, so she continued to pester him, lifting one eyelid and blowing into his nose.

"Fem…," his voice mumbled with a shit of his eye and his head turned away to be buried in the pillow his head lain on.

"Are you awake?"

"Uuughhh," his groan muffled.

"Well, you asked me to wake you up." She played with his ear.

"I know…" Ratchet sighed out heavily and looked back at Femka speaking again after a moment of quiet. "It really is going away," he said pointing out briefly to her hair. His fingers sifted through the hair around her crown that was now brown. "Oh, I forgot."

Femka titled her head a tad confused by his gesture as she watched him turn around and reach out to a table to grab something. He returned to her holding her necklace out.

"You needed this back."

"You hang onto it for now." She pushed it away and let her hands wrap around his. "Arlis said that he'd need to use it for the teleporter when it was finished."

Ratchet saw her eyes drift down and he frowned at the motion knowing what she was thinking about just from experience. He pulled her in close and hugged her tight in his arms without saying a word. Femka bashfully held him back keeping her face near his and closed her eyes. The two of them were like that for a little while—neither of them wanted to move. After what was probably an hour of silence Ratchet spoke quietly causing the woman he caressed to open her eyes again.

"I should probably get ready. I did tell Arlis that I'd help him with his work and I also told Clank that I'd open up the garage again."

"Can I help? I don't wanna just… sit around like last time."

"Mhm," he smiled.

Ratchet had a feeling it was only an excuse to spend as much time with him as she could until it was time for her to leave. He could respect that. Besides, likewise he wanted the same thing. He kissed Femka's forehead tenderly giving her a smile and a pet to the side of her face. Reluctantly he left the bed to get changed and Femka was about to do the same but she stayed under the covers recalling something from yesterday.

"Um, Ratchet…" Her eyes shifted to the other side of the room as she pulled the covers over her chest when she sat up. "I need to wash my clothes… Yesterday I used that thing in the bathroom to dry them after I washed them with soap or with what I hope was soap. But I'd kind of like something more efficient…"

The mechanic raised his brow at her with a devious smile and snort throwing on a shirt when he did so.

"I'll wash them for you. You can take a shower while I do it. I'll get you a towel so you don't have to run nude to the bathroom." He chuckled again.

"Thanks," her voice said sarcastically.

Femka watched him make his way across the room while the pinkness on her cheeks began to fade away. He left through the door and it spiraled to a close behind him. Seconds later he came back with a towel tossing it at her.

"Besides the clothes on the floor, I guess all your other stuff is in your backpack?" he asked with another shrug of his brow.

The young lady shyly nodded her head slipping out of the comfy bed and put on the towel. She watched Ratchet pick up clothes off of the ground and then stared down at her feet. He approached when he was done and led her out of the room with him. Down the hallway was the bathroom, a short walk. Femka was still embarrassed, wrapped up like that in her towel. There were hardly any sounds coming from inside the complex. All the noise was coming from outside. She wondered if Arlis and Clank were already getting to work on the teleporter. Her feet stopped and she stood in front of the bathroom door that turned open upon her arrival.

"When I'm done washing your stuff I'll put it back in my room on the bed. It shouldn't take too long."

She smiled and nodded lightly and entered the room to go about her routine just as usual. When Femka took showers she always used it as means of relaxing and thinking. Something about a shower or a bath gave a person the right motives to simply think about everything and contemplate everything as well. The bathroom was a universal place of reflection. Femka took advantage of this and resumed her thoughts from last night. Oh, did she blush at the imagery that slipped through her mind again. She couldn't believe the accomplishment she made. However, it still made her sad at the same time. Femka was more than happy that she at last got her emotions off of her chest but because of that it meant that she was attached now. She clung to things she had and letting go of something like what happened last night would be a challenge. Her head shook while she stood in the shower stall.

"_I'm not gonna think about that,"_ she argued in her mind. _"For once, I need to stop being obsessed with the future. I'm so happy right now; I'm not gonna ruin this for myself."_

Femka tried to drive away any negativity while she cleansed herself. It was her "ability" to be easily distracted that helped her. When she finished with her shower the women hadn't realized how long she was in there. Though, she didn't have her communicator, she knew it had been awhile. The door opened after her towel was firmly wrapped around her body and the steam trailed out of the room with her. Her eyes squinted to the living room that was nearby and saw that it was empty. Her feet scampered across the cold, metal floor to Ratchet's room. Her backpack was on the bed already and so were her other things. She smiled seeing her glasses with the pile of clothes and her comm-link as well. Femka followed up with the rest of her routine and changed into a fresh pair of clothes and put on her glasses with a happy sigh. She took her communication device and checked the time seeing it was now past noon and hooked onto the side of her belt. Lastly she exited the Lombax's room and directed herself down the hallway to find out where everyone was. She peeked into a few rooms that were void of life until she remembered they were probably in the garage. She could some loud sounds coming from beyond the closed metal door. Femka leaned in when it opened and she could see the commotion from where she stood. Arlis and Clank were discussing something that undoubtedly had to do with the project and Ratchet was moving some heavier items out of the way to make room in the back—also probably for the project.

"I think I've finally got these plans worked out," the old Arlis said as he flipped through the pages of Femka's notebook. "I worked all last night…"

"May I see?" Clank asked taking the book when the man more than happily agreed.

Clank sifted through all the pages making several curious hums as he did so. Arlis practically filled that thing up leaving a few blank pages. Some pages he had written in were scribbled out as well. The designs were simple, however. It made Clank more curious. The drawings resembled something like a ring that stood upright and its power source would be Femka's necklace. All the other notes unfortunately weren't legible to the little robot, because of the Remilien language barrier.

"Would you mind explaining the ideas you have written here?" he pointed.

"Of course."

Arlis sat on the floor (with slow pace) and maintained an equal level with the tiny robot leaving the sketchbook open on the floor. Before he began he noticed Femka watching from afar and motioned his hand for her to join them. It was almost certainly vital for her to hear what was going on exactly. She hurried over to the two and stood above them looking down at the notebook after staring at Clank and Arlis for a second.

"I'm going to explain my schematics here. I think you should hear it." His head nodded to the side with a shrug of his shoulders. "Alright. This is how it _theoretically_ works. We're calling it a teleporter for an obvious reason. We're also still assuming that Earth is in our universe. So, making a teleporter that can transport objects from one point to the next on the same universal plane is much easier than doing so between dimensions. In our technological time we have this ability, so making this machine isn't difficult. The difficult part is transporting someone somewhere where there is no sister teleporter, Earth, from the mother teleporter, Kerwan. The device should be able to act as a portal leaving a gate opened, however. I'm just not sure how long. Theoretically, we have the location and can send things there if it's uploaded to the computer that programs the device. We want to use the necklace that holds the Neroltrium as a power source, because we don't know how great the distance is between here and your Earth. Also, as an addition, I was told there was still some Neroltrium on Earth?" he glanced to Clank and Femka for clarification.

"Yep!" Ratchet confirmed now standing behind the man. "But I really don't know what happened to it."

"Well, the idea is that there's still Nerotrium there, so this point isn't really vital but it would just help in the teleportation process. Neroltrium always seeks out Neroltrium. It's a material that always acts on itself and acts on other things when they act on it." He cleared his throat hoping everything was still following him. "So, as a recap, we will design a _normal_ teleporter, connect it with a smart computer, upload the coordinates, insert the stone as a resource and hopefully it'll work."

"Hopefully, huh?" Ratchet scratched his chin as his tail swaggered behind him.

"For the sake of error I have to say it like that."

"Perhaps we should test our device out when it is finished. Maybe enter coordinates from here and another destination not far away," Clank suggested.

"That's not a bad idea. If it really does end up working without a sister pad then we'll keep experimenting with the distance," Ratchet agreed.

"I see." Arlis pondered again. "Good then. And your thoughts, Femka?" He looked up at the woman somewhat sympathetic. "After all, this is entirely up to you."

"Well…" She rubbed her arms trying not to imagine all the bad possibilities that could happen. "Yeah. Let's try it."

"We won't use live objects until we know it's safe," the old man said standing up with a wobble in his knees.

"Okay." Femka sighed and nodded.

It was kind of a scary thing to think about; the dangers of teleporting. But Arlis tried to assure the woman that everything would work out fine if the tests were a success. What if they weren't, though? What happens when they go completely wrong? What happens next to Femka? She often focused on the bad but she remembered what she told herself earlier in the shower again.

"How long do you think it would take to make something like this?" she bothered to ask.

"I've actually never built a teleporter by myself—"

"—_Oh, that's reassuring—"_

"—but since I've got Clank and Ratchet to help out it can't take longer than a couple weeks."

Femka bobbed her head lightly and looked over to Ratchet with a small smile. He returned the notion with a wink and walked back over to the objects he was moving beforehand. The whole place needed to be organized again if the mechanic intended on getting back to work. The last time he and Clank were on Kerwan was probably over a year ago, since they had been spending so much time in Polaris.

"Mister Marlow," Clank began, "do you need to make anymore modifications to your schematics or are you ready to commence with the preparations?"

"I think they're ready. There's only one way to find out, I suppose."

"Then let us review your plans again and decide what materials we will need."

"Alright."

The two wandered off to a nearby table where Clank decided to stand upon and Arlis decided to sit at. Femka's eyes coasted back to Ratchet who was digging through a crate of spare parts and joined him at the section of the garage.

"What're you doing?"

"Seeing if there's anything interesting in here," his voice echoed off of the metal container.

"Is there?" her voice perked.

"Hmmm… Nope." Ratchet lifted his head out of the box and rested an arm against it. "It's been a good while since Clank and I were here. I thought this was the box where I put all my interesting stuff in. I can't find it. Oh, well. I need to open this place up for business anyway." He stared out to the end of the hanger and sighed through his nose turning his view back to Femka who blinked her eyes at him. "Did you still wanna help me?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Good."

The smile that he gave her almost worried the young woman. She was capable of helping but only so much. She didn't really know what tasks he'd be giving her. Femka would come to find out later on in the day what she really needed to be doing when Ratchet decided to get things up and running for the "business". Clank was right about the costs of the materials that they would need, since not everything was presently lying around the place. Teleporters were a common thing but they weren't an inexpensive thing. When the shop was opened in the evening Femka was surprised that people were already stopping by. She didn't know too much about Ratchet's job other than what she saw him do on several occasions on Igliak and what he told her. Judging by the people that came she could safely assume that he did his job well. Femka managed to help out as well but was mostly the person who handed the mechanic the stuff he needed to proceed with his job. When they were done for the day, Arlis and Clank had completed the item list that they would need to start the teleporter project. At the table in the kitchen all of them reviewed it. Every item was obtainable in Kerwan, so they all settled on getting things started first thing tomorrow.

Come that night Femka found herself in Ratchet's room lying on the bed after the sun had gone down and staring up at the ceiling above her. The Lombax wasn't present in the room with her yet. The woman daydreamt in the dark quiet about everything she more often than not did. A light from the door opening drove her thoughts away and she stared at Ratchet when he entered. A light smile formed on her pale face and the room went dark again leaving only the light from the outside to shine in through the partially closed windows. The cat-like alien joined her on the bed having done his rituals for the night and laid next to her pushing his head beside hers and keeping her close with his arm wrapped around her. She smiled softly again rolling into him. Femka loved how soft he felt. It made him chuckle how she nuzzled her face into, burying it like that. The woman yawned keeping her eyes closed and her hands clutching onto him. He could tell she was about to fall asleep when her grip on him loosened up after a moment.

"Good night, Fem," he said closing his own eyes.

"Night," she sighed back.

• • •

The next morning was followed directly to what the plans demanded. When Ratchet woke up he immediately found his friend and got started. Arlis was already awake at the crack of dawn ready to go. The machine was finally about to be built—the theoretical teleporter, that is. Femka was woken up from her sleep early as well. It was difficult to manage a business and help Clank and Arlis build a rather large device all at once. The woman was quickly put to work since she gladly agreed the other day to help. The wise Remilien had said that their project could take a couple weeks or more and that would definitely be the case. The items that were already in the shop were laid out and stored in the back of the garage where they agreed the teleporter should be built. Some things would have to be measured and welded into new shapes to fit Arlis's drawings. The only good thing about the whole project was that it was a simple design to build. The hard part would be programming the computer and getting the teleporter to function properly. Ratchet felt adequately reassured after finding a "How-To" guide on the holo-net which showed the accurate instructions on how to program your own teleportation device. Seemed easy enough. But they would follow Arlis's plans first no doubt.

It was fascinating for the young lady to watch the three at work. There wasn't much in her expertise that she could do—she could only watch instead—but they seemed so astute to the job. After the first day so much had already been made. Well, not necessarily made just yet. Most of the things they needed were had and the frame of the device was being established. The components they needed specifically were parts for the computer and a cell for the necklace. It was vital to find something that wouldn't surge the machine when the Neroltrium was placed inside. The ex-scientist seemed to have everything in order, though. Hopefully the plan really was flawless. Femka's life depended on it.

By the end of the second day things were starting to get done with the teleporter. There was a terminal by the work area that would act as the computer for the machine. The only problem with the computer was that it wasn't a smart computer. It wasn't retrofitted with artificial intelligence. That was something Arlis said they could worry about later. Instead, the three worked steadfastly on the portal's body. Come the fourth day it was obvious to Femka that all of them truly knew their stuff—or so it looked. The frame of the device had been successfully built. Actually, because they would work so often it was being built much faster. Once again, that was the easiest part of their endeavor. By the end of the week most of the teleporter was finished. It was looking pretty bare. Many of the components were visible and there were wires sticking out of it from every angle it appeared. But they couldn't venture any further until they managed to get the computer working correctly with the device. The day after the first week Ratchet was trying to connect the teleporter with the computer as previously they didn't have much luck. Femka stood nearby and watched confused feeling the whole thing to be out of her element. She watched him as he sat on his hands and knees fumbling with some wires and then standing up and pressing some keys on the terminal in front of him only to sigh and return to the ground again.

"So, what exactly are you doing?" the curious translator bothered to ask.

"Like Arlis said, in order for this thing to work it needs a computer so it has a platform from where a command can be sent and the thing receives it. This computer doesn't work well enough, though."

"What's wrong with it?"

"I dunno." He stood up with a heavy shrug. "I'm not really good with computers."

Femka's brows furrowed.

"Then why are you—"

Ratchet only shrugged again with his palms out now facing the puzzled woman.

"Thought I could try it out anyway. I guess if I was to say it in my own words: this computer is too stupid."

"What're you gonna do then?"

"Well, Arlis told me that he wasn't really a guy who was into programming or software engineering, and Clank's level computer tech is just about as savvy as mine. I do know one guy who could help…" He rubbed his chin drifting his eyes to the corner.

The mechanic started out of the room and Femka loyally followed. During the week that passed she had been around him constantly. Her affection for him knew no bounds. She worried at some points if she was even bothering him but he always seemed like he didn't mind. When she caught up to him he smiled letting her enter through the door first as it spiraled apart. Ratchet guided her with his hand at her hip to another room which, lo and behold, had another computer. Femka let her eyes travel curiously at the screen that was in front of them. The Lombax took a step before her pressing some keys on the horizontal board that lain before the screen.

"Is this a smart computer?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what're you doing?"

"Calling that guy I told you about, err, briefly mentioned."

Again Femka pondered tilting her head slightly and pushed up her glasses as she observed the screen in front of her turn on and show a funny symbol in the middle of the display that turned about like it was loading something. After a second there was an apparent dial tone and the screen opened up to a picture of some alien who wore a black hat on his head that covered his eyes with goggles. He seemed like he was working on something but noticed the screen as his small ears stuck up taking notice to the signal. The chubby creature stared at the screen with an almost an annoyed expression.

"I'm a little busy at the moment," he said in a strange voice. "If you don't mind, call me back in…"

His mouth shaped into an "o" fashion when he recognized who was on the other side of the screen. His three fingers lifted the goggles away from his eyes and above his head and a jolly smile came about his visage.

"Oh, Ratchet, it's you! Long time no talk. I see you're calling from Kerwan."

"_How does he know that?"_ Femka thought, inspecting the weird-looking man on the display.

"Hi, Al. Yeah, well, I thought I should finally stop by. Also," Ratchet started with a scratch of his head.

"Hm, I sense a request?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Does Clank need his sister boards looked at? Perhaps an update on your computer system? It's been a long time since you've been to Kerwan. You're completely behind schedule." Al pondered aloud.

"It's actually for something else."

"Hm?"

"Um, in a roundabout way of saying this, Clank and I have been working on a big project with the help of a guy named Arlis. We've built a teleporter."

"A teleporter?"

"Uh-huh but the whole… A.I. thing…"

"Mhm, mhm." His finger tapped against his chin gently. "I take it the computer you're using for your teleportation device isn't up to date with the right software. Ratchet, that's an easy installation." His hand swatted whimsically apparently accepting the challenge.

"Yeah, of course…"

"Why exactly are you building a teleporter at your novice proficiency?"

"It's a long story." His eyes narrowed. "Will you help out or what?"

"Hmmm… Let me stop by and see what you've got so far. I'll be the judge of your teleportation device and make the call then."

"Fair enough."

"I'll make my stop by tomorrow. Good thing you're already in the Solana galaxy," he snorted, "otherwise you'd be on your own. I'd say you're pretty lucky to have me around. Oh, I gotta go. I have a customer!"

The screen blacked and Ratchet shook his head gently with a peculiar smile on his face placing a hand on his hip. Femka stared at him and grinned back holding her hands together behind her.

"Well, that's taken care of; guess there's not much we can do until Al comes tomorrow."

"Do you need me to help you with the other stuff today?"

"I actually don't have anything else. Funny how that worked out."

"So, we finally have the rest of the day to be free?"

Femka sighed happily when Ratchet nodded answering her question.

"Guess it has been a pretty stressful week." His hand rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel kinda bad. We've been concentrating on this whole _teleporting thing_ and you haven't even left the premises since you got here. Don't you feel cooped up at all?"

"A little bit… It'd be nice to go outside."

"Then let's go do something outside. I can show you Metropolis—oh, well, some of it. Anyway, let's get out of here."

His eyes rolled lackadaisically and he took the woman's hand leading her out of the room. She smiled brightly and followed carelessly with him down the hallway and past the area where Clank and Arlis where and into Ratchet's bedroom. He released his grip on her to change quickly from out of the clothes he was wearing and into something more comfortable. Femka sat on the bed and waited for him while watching the interesting movements that were going on outside through the window. As Ratchet finished he looked up seeing Femka zoning out and crawled on the bed behind her swiftly wrapping his arms around her and blowing on the side of her face with a suction of his lips. She gasped attempting to swat at him for having scared her, again, but his grip didn't subside and neither did his laughter. His head nuzzled into her neck and his arms stayed hooked around her waist.

"I'll get you back, you just wait," she declared sucking one side of her mouth.

"Oh, yeah? I doubt it."

Ratchet's grip around the stubborn woman loosened and her space was further invaded by his lips pressing onto the side of her cheek. He slid off of the bed and stood before Femka noticing the perpetual grumpy expression on her face and couldn't keep back another fast snort of laughter. He extended a hand out to her and she grabbed it afterwards being forced up from her seat and brought into a tight hug. The tenacity for his prank went right out the window when he held her close and a calm smile was placed over the frown she wore instead. He must have known that what he did would have done the trick. Femka looked up at him after a moment of getting lost in his warmth and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Are you ready?" Ratchet's smile was unrelenting.

"Hmm, yeah, I'm ready."

The Lombax kept his fingers locked around hers and the two stepped out of the room together once again walking past the area where Clank and Arlis were lounging at. They were engaging in some game together, really. Maybe chess? Femka turned her head to see what they were doing while she walked by and the Remilien and the little robot both turned their way as well upon hearing the two pairs of feet make noise across the metal floor yet another time.

"Are you going somewhere, Ratchet?" Clank asked from the comfort of his chair.

"Yeah, I was just gonna show Fem the city. Why, did you wanna come?"

"Negative. I am currently preoccupied with Mister Marlow in this rather intensive competition of Cazarian chess… He has never played before, however he does very well."

"I try," the old man said with a considerate grin.

"Oh, yeah, I talked to Al just a minute ago and he said he'd hypothetically help us with the teleporter tomorrow."

"Excellent. Then our device shall be en route to completion in no time."

Ratchet's head nodded to his small companion who was now looking back at the chess board with a concentrated stare. Arlis wondered at that moment who exactly this "Al" person was but he would just have to wait to see for himself tomorrow—that, or he'd ask Clank later about it.

"Enjoy your game. We'll be back later," Ratchet said with a wave of his hand while the other took Femka along.

"Bye," Femka waved as well.

The two at their seats acknowledged the others that left with a wave of their own hands and without delay carried on with their game.

There was a small gust of cool wind that blew back Femka's hair when she stepped outside. The sun was being blocked by a group of obstinate clouds, though the weather would say that the day was fair. The Earthling's glasses adjusted to the light and a small thought drifted through her mind with a smile to accompany it. It was good to know that even in such a technologically advanced universe the simple concept of glasses was still just like how it was on Earth.

"Where're we going first?" Femka inquired pushing hair out of her mouth.

"Anywhere. I think aimlessly walking around sounds like a good plan." He smiled.

"That's fine with me, just as long as we don't have to use anything that teleports…"

"We probably will."

"Great…"

Her cheerful expression turned dull and unenthusiastic at the thought of traveling through one of those teleportation chambers. It gave her chills but her mood wouldn't last long. Ratchet kept her close by him entangling his fingers within hers and the two started off on their directionless adventure. After being in this universe for about three months seeing all the flying cars and space ships felt more regular for Femka but there was still the sensation of novelty that overwhelmed her each time she watched them zip by and travel up high into space. Like all times before (at least recently) the woman brought out her comm-link to capture the visuals that she saw. There were again different species of aliens on this planet than that of Igliak. Each galaxy was home to millions (and more) of intelligent life. She recognized a very popular species again that resembled her but only had three fingers—opposable thumb included—instead of five. She also noted aliens that had some similarity to Ratchet or a Lombax rather. Their fur was dark brown and their ears were a little smaller. It was strange to think that Ratchet was the only one of his kind left now. Femka watched the dark, furred alien go on his way and then glanced back at the man beside her while they walked along a transparent path. After some time Ratchet became aware of Femka's stare and his eyebrows lifted when she didn't turn away.

"I have a question," Femka said stopping.

"Okay." Ratchet stopped walking as well letting the people pass them along.

"From all the stories you told me, all the stuff you've done with Clank, you've made lots of different friends—or enemies—and lots of people know you."

"Mhm."

"How come while we're walking no one is stopping you or talking to you? I mean, you saved this galaxy, the other galaxy, another galaxy and this one again, right? And you're the last Lombax! Doesn't anybody care?" He hands rose to shoulder height and her palms lay flat out until her fingers curled slightly.

"Well, I do have some memorials of myself on a few planets." His finger and thumb pushed on his chin. "Ah, the point is, people _know_ me, they know I exist, but there's one problem." Ratchet clasped onto Femka's shoulders. "Its name is Qwark. And it's been stealing my thunder since I was fifteen years old."

"How do you put up with him? I would've decked him for taking credit for the things I've accomplished."

"I did once. It was nice. But," he sighed. "Even though Qwark is a cowardly idiot, and a spotlight ranger, I don't do things to be recognized. I've done what I've done in the past because it was the right thing to do and it wasn't just me who could benefit, it was for everyone who needed it. Sure, it can be inconceivably frustrating when you work really hard at something then somebody else takes the credit, but it doesn't really matter in the end anyway." His smile was resolute but gentle. "Besides, I'm in more than enough good company to never feel dissatisfied or unwanted."

"You must have a heart of gold, Ratchet."

"I have a lot of people to thank for that disposition."

His smile was infectious and Femka found herself hugging around his neck seconds later. He responded just the same wrapping his arms around her tightly lifting her off the ground. Her body slid down after their moment and her grin seemed to stay when they linked hands again and finally continued their promenade. Femka needed to stop every thirty feet in order to take a picture of something but it didn't bother Ratchet. It did make their outing last longer than intended. They started around noon and it was now evening, the sun ready to set. Though most of their day was spent wondering around the city it was enjoyable for Femka. She also managed to avoid any teleportation devices. As they walked back together she could feel her legs getting sore but her distractions were plentiful yet. Since the night was coming it changed the whole scheme and hue of the city. Even standing in front of Ratchet and Clank's home did the place look different as the sun poured its colors onto it. The young woman stared up into the sky trying to look at the stars that were coming out.

"Can you see any planets from Kerwan?"

"From here, not really. At least I don't think at the moment." Ratchet scratched his head. "That's probably a question for Clank."

"When we were on Igliak we could see Jasindu pretty clearly from Meridian. Doesn't it worry anyone that a planet is so close? Could they ever collide with each other?"

"It's possible."

"Could anybody ever do anything about it?" She stared at Ratchet. "_Would_ anybody ever do anything about it?"

The mechanic snorted a laugh at her response.

"Yeah, somebody could do something about it, and hopefully they would. I just hope it's not me," he mumbled.

"Would you?" she smiled.

"Well, if it was crashing into my planet, I guess I'd do something about it. I'm not a superhero but then again I wouldn't leave it up to you-know-who, so yeah, probably." His eyebrows rose up then down quickly with a sardonic expression.

"See, I knew you had a heart of gold." Femka nudged his arm before resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes feeling his arm around her. "We should go inside. I might fall asleep standing up." Her body rested against him.

"Don't fall over when I start moving."

When Ratchet did start moving Femka just walked right behind him still resting her head and upper body against him. She was literally right on his tail while they walked inside the complex. The rooms were dimly lit and it seemed like the only active place was the living room where Clank and Arlis where earlier. They did leave their spots but they happened to be in the same place again by the time Ratchet and Femka returned just doing something different this time.

"Welcome back," Clank greeted as he stacked one card on top of another. "Did you enjoy your afternoon?"

"Yeah, it was pretty nice. I see you're still in the living room."

"Sometimes it's good to be in one place all day," Arlis commented as he sat comfortably in a chair letting out a yawn.

Consequentially Femka released a yawn as well still propped up against Ratchet's back. His head turned around somewhat looking at the tired woman behind him.

"Ready for bed?"

"Uh-huh…"

"We'll see each other tomorrow morning. G'night," he said leading Femka down the hallway.

"Good night," the two replied simultaneously.

By the time they entered through his doorway Femka was ready to roll onto the bed. Her eyes were full of water from yawning so much and her legs were tired from walking all day. She sat down instead and found her night clothes lying on the floor near her. She tiredly picked them up and began changing from where she sat. She wasn't embarrassed about doing it around Ratchet at this point and he was doing the same thing on the other side of the room. She had lain her body against the soft bed and closed her eyes. When Ratchet joined next to her he took of her glasses and placed them on the stand adjacent to him. The Lombax acted like a magnet to her and she rolled into her keeping her face under his chin and him keeping his arms around her tight and secure.

"Ratchet," Femka said half-asleep.

"Hm?"

"Can I tell you something funny?" Her voice lagged.

"What?"

"Remember when that thing happened in the alley and you took me home and then you stayed with me until I fell asleep?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"I woke up once before you, because I was spooning you. I didn't wanna tell you, because it was embarrassing."

Ratchet opened his eyes and smiled shamelessly.

"I can't believe I was asleep for that." His smile turned into pensiveness.

"I'm pretty glad you were," she sighed out. "And remember on Pokitaru, you asked me if I was thinking about you? I said no but I actually was."

"Are you some font of truth when you're half-awake, Fem? What else have you been hiding?"

"The same night I was spooning with you I had a dream that I was making out with you. I liked that dream. It was a really nice dream." She yawned.

He smiled and lightly laughed stroking down her hair.

"You can go to sleep now, Femka."

"Okay…"

• • •

Come morning both Femka and Ratchet were already to go. Arlis and Clank were up at the break of dawn and all had met each other in the common area known as the kitchen (and sometimes the living room) for breakfast. Al didn't specify a time that he'd arrive at but it was good to be ready at all times in case. Everyone had eaten (save for the smallest robot) and gathered into the garage to start their day. Ratchet went to fixing a ship with Clank by his side. When Al finally did show up the alien brought several things with him carried by two hovering helper-bots. The "robot guy" entered the garage as the mechanic was still working on the ship near the entrance. Clank spotted the familiar presence and greeted him promptly and tugged on Ratchet's pant leg to get his attention.

"Wait just a minute, Clank…"

"Ratchet!" Al yelled out.

The Lombax quickly lifted his head up only to hit it against a piece of the ship with a thud.

"Aaahhh…!" He grabbed his head noticing Al standing there. "Oh, hi…"

"Hmm…" Al scrutinized the hanger with a finger under his nose and saw the teleporter in the back. "Aha! So that's your project?" He started walking towards the creation and examined it along with all of its parts and especially the computer. "Hmm…"

Ratchet rubbed his head slowly making his way to Al.

"Whaddaya think?"

"Hmm…"

"Hmm?"

"Seems pretty outmoded."

"Well, could you "in-mode" it?" He watched as the chubby brainiac began typing away on the terminal.

"I said before it was an easy fix, but this computer is pretty despicable. We'll have to make a few adjustments before I install an A.I."

He summoned his two helper-bots that carried all the tools necessary for the project. The two set down a heavy bag with relief and opened it up to reveal his tools.

"It's obvious what you're trying to accomplish here but what's the story?" Al bothered to ask putting on his goggles that rested on his head.

"We needed to build a teleporter that could send a friend of mine back to her galaxy. It's not possible to fly there…"

"On slightly possible," Clank added.

"Yeah, slightly possible, but anyway, her galaxy isn't really around here and we wanted to find a quicker way to get her home. This seemed like a pretty good idea."

"Mhmm…" Al pondered and continued with his work taking out one of his tools and hooking it up to the computer.

Ratchet watched him work steadily and noticed that Femka was peeking through the doorway across the garage. He motioned with his hand for her to come over, though she seemed reluctant about it. Her feet carried her to Ratchet where she quickly joined at his hip and she, too, watched Al get to work.

"Where's Arlis?"

"He's coming."

Surely enough, the old researcher came into the large room with the others and noticed the stranger working intensively on their device. He stood by Ratchet and watched Al curiously.

"Does he need any help?" the old man asked.

"Nah, we'd only be interfering with his mojo. Right, Al?"

"Sssshhh, I'm working!"

"Al is very well adept in computer skills and robotics," Clank informed Arlis.

"So I can see."

They continued to watch until Al appeared to have come to a breakthrough. He lifted the goggles away from his face and fixed his glasses placing his hands on his well-rounded hips with a proud smirk.

"There!" he said.

"Did you do it?" Ratchet's voice rose in a curious tone.

"Of course I did. Your teleportation machine has now been retrofitted with a modified artificial intelligence core."

"That's amazing," Arlis spoke out surprised. "You didn't even need to see my schematics or anything."

"It's a piece of cake," Al waved out his hand in modesty. "But you should probably test it out first to see how well it works, not that I have any doubts, though."

Ratchet stepped over to the portal and pressed one of the buttons on the panel to the side of the circular device and a compartment opened up. He reached around his neck and took off the necklace that he'd been wearing for the past couple weeks and slipped the stone into a small holding slot pressing the same button again. There was a loud humming sound and the computer that was hooked up to the large portal reacted to the Neroltrium inside.

"Sufficient power source detected," the computer's voice spoke.

The Remilien was biting his tongue the whole time Ratchet stood over there and sighed relieved hearing the computer say its words. Al had a brooding expression after seeing the choice of power they were using and watched as the portal glowed a pale, blue light in the gate.

"Interesting," the alien said. "Now, input the coordinates you need."

"Okay. Let's try something simple." Ratchet thought. "How about putting in the coordinates for Kerwan's Planetary Defense Center? It's not that far."

Al stood by the computer and input the correct numbers for the location. The computer recognized the number and confirmed it through its speaker. The next step was to decide who would go through it. Everyone looked at each other apprehensively.

"I will go," Clank stepped forward. "It will be safer to test it on something that is not living first."

"Are you sure, Clank? I mean, we could send something else, like a rock, a book, Qwark…"

"I will be fine, Ratchet."

"Alright," he said hesitant.

"Be careful." Femka worried as well.

"The computer display says that you'll have five minutes to enter through the portal and to enter back," Al read with his eyes squinted at the screen.

Arlis walked over to the portal with Clank and was ready to press the final button when the little robot was also ready. There was no telling where the portal would open. Though, the location was specific, it didn't guarantee that Clank would be walking on ground or even _in_ the ground. He took a deep breath and nodded his head to Arlis. The man pressed the button and the machine hummed again with the blue glow swirling and looking like moving water.

"Here I go."

The tiny robot braved through the portal slowly as everyone watched the light consume him until he was gone. He didn't come out the other side and that proved that the machine partially worked. They waited for him to return hoping that he didn't end up some place he really shouldn't have. As Clank left through the portal he could see the city visibly from where he stood. And where he stood was on a platform right outside the Planetary Defense Center. Clank gasped with surprise looking at his hands and seeing no distortion. He turned around quickly to see the portal there appearing like it was a part of the wall to the building.

"Hmm…" The robot tapped his chin. "It appears to have worked just fine, though I cannot say it will always be this convenient."

Clank walked back through the portal and returned to the garage all in one piece. Ratchet was the first to be the most relieved when he saw his friend come back.

"It works!"

"Indeed. However, my exit was attached to the wall. It may be that this machine will give us a gamble if the coordinates are not precise."

"Fascinating," Arlis commented bemused.

"Should we try another destination?" Clank proposed.

"Oh! I have a good one. Try the coordinates for the garage back on Veldin." Ratchet's tail wagged slowly.

"Entering data for Kyzil Plateau…" Al spoke aloud pressing the buttons on the computer. "There."

The same procedure as before happened with the teleporter. It hummed loudly at first and then quieted down to a dull drone. Clank stepped up to the device and Arlis stood by ready to press the button again. The silver robot gave the signal and the button was pressed. The boldly braved another walk through, closing his eyes and opening them when he reached the other side. The portal had opened several feet off of the ground and as Clank stepped over he tumbled to the ground.

"Hmph." Clank brushed the sand and dirt off of him when he stood up. "As I said…"

His grumbles ended when he could see their old garage in front of his eyes just a little bit ahead. His eyes widened again astounded that the teleporter was close in precision with the destination. Clank didn't spend too much time gawking over the sight and went back to the portal lifting himself up in the air with his helipack and entering once again in the garage. Everyone stared at him in anticipation.

"It was successful."

They all expressed their joys in a group "Huzzah!" until something happened with the computer. Al turned his direction to the screen as it flashed a warning.

"Overheating, please shut down," the voice said.

"Uh-oh… Better pull the plug," Al advised manually shutting down the computer.

Arlis who was already by the gateway opened up the compartment where the Neroltrium was and took it out immediately as the system shutdown with a low hum that eventually faded.

"What happened?" Femka stared over at Arlis and then to Al.

"That power source you're using is most likely too much for this thing to handle," Al stated.

"It's essential for the machine, though." The old man bit his lip in thought. "I suppose we'll just have to be very careful next time. I'm just grateful that the thing works. You're a genius, Al."

"I get by." The "genius" shifted his glasses with a self-effacing smile. "Well, I believe that means my work here is done."

"Thanks, Al. You're a big help." Ratchet smiled appreciatively.

"Since you're finally in Metropolis, make sure you stop by my shop soon to give Clank a tune-up." He inspected the robot at his level carefully. "I can already tell he's way overdue."

"Sure thing."

With that, Al and his helpful assistants were on their way out through the large door leaving the others to themselves and their homemade teleportation apparatus. Femka looked over at Ratchet wondering what they would do now. It worked (so it seemed) and the only thing next was to test a living, organic object with it. For now, the machine would take a break but it didn't keep the woman from thinking about what would happen next. Her stare was still on the mechanic who soon looked back at her. He could tell what she was thinking and smiled with half of his face knowing what needed to happen later. Her head looked down at the floor and she frowned.

"Um…" Ratchet frowned as well scratching his shoulder awkwardly.

"I guess this means that I'll be going home soon now."

The reality of it all had finally arrived and it didn't feel good at all for Femka. She was homesick for Earth but that drastically changed ever since she confessed her feelings the other week. Her heart was starting to sink and Ratchet grabbed a hold of her hands and lifted up her chin to look at her. Her frown was unrelenting and the Lombax pulled her in to hug her. Femka's head sat on his shoulder and her arms rested around his neck. Clank saw the depressing look on the woman's face from his position and could only feel bad. Arlis felt the same as well as he stood by the machine holding her necklace in his hand.

"You don't have to leave right now," Ratchet spoke softly.

"I know. But I have to leave soon. I'm gonna miss you." Her voice was a quivering whisper.

"I'll miss you too but you're not leaving yet." He pulled her out in front of him. "We can still spend time together, we all can."

Femka viewed the two who stood behind Ratchet after staring at him disheartened. All their faces seemed to mimic hers. She never really thought that they'd be just as heartbroken as she was. She rubbed her nose with her hand and looked down at her feet uncertain of what to say.

"I think what I really want," her voice spoke up, "is just to have one last day with you guys."

"Then what about tomorrow? We can all do whatever you want."

"I'd like that."

The mechanic smiled only remembering that he still had other things to do today. It was a few hours past noon and naturally there were things that needed his attention to fixing.

"Femka, Fem, I still have to work on that ship over there, will you help me?" His ears parted outward off to each side.

Her head nodded gently and she was taken by the mechanic's side over to the ship as his helper for the rest of the day. Arlis watched the two and stared down at Clank who was fixing the antenna on his head.

"Clank, you wouldn't suppose I'd be getting in the way tomorrow, do you?"

"Why would you think that?" he retorted confused. "I would believe that your company is much appreciated."

"I just wondered." He smiled.

"Ratchet will need our help now. Miss Femka may be his chosen assistant but I believe there is much he has to do. If I know Ratchet, and I am ninety-seven percent certain that I do, he has probably taken more work than he can keep track of."

"Ninety-seven?"

"I must leave three percent open for error."

The small robot began to walk off to another section of the garage. The old man chuckled with a gleam and followed him to assist in whatever he needed.

Clank was right about his assumptions of Ratchet. It was only midday but there was a lot to be done. If the Lombax was available then someone probably had something wrong with their rockets or ship and needed a repair. With the four of them working all day most of those things were accomplished what needed to be. Femka tried her best to stay happy for the rest of the day but her situation still bothered her noticeably. Come night she didn't even want to sleep. She wanted to make her moments with everyone last as long as she could. But she knew that wouldn't work. As she sat on Ratchet's bed when night came at last she kicked her legs over the edge waiting for him to come back from the bathroom. Her eyes observed all the goings-on outside and she released a heavy sigh.

"Tomorrow's my last day. I can't be sad," she talked to herself. "I'm gonna miss everything."

Her head turned fast to the door that opened and soon closed after letting the fuzzy, yellow alien in. He smiled at her and took a seat next to her with his hands on his lap and stared out the window with her.

"Did you think of what you wanted to do tomorrow?"

"Not exactly."

"Hmm." Ratchet's tail swayed behind him while he thought. "Well, if you can't think of anything off the bat, is there anything that you've always wanted to do that you couldn't back on your home planet?" His gaze turned on her.

"I think I've done just about everything with you and Clank that I couldn't on Earth." She smiled amusingly. "I've been in space, flying in a spaceship, something I've _dreamed_ my short life to be able to do. I was almost assaulted by aliens, I was kidnapped, I almost _died_."

"Yeah, uh, those ones you probably could've done without…"

"Probably." She smiled again looking at her lap. "I guess it doesn't really matter what we do tomorrow; I'll just be happy knowing that in any case I can be with you guys."

The Lombax stared at her for a moment while she looked down at her lap and shied his eyes away feeling some regret that he couldn't show her the places he intended to earlier. If they had more time he would've gladly taken her to another planet but tomorrow wasn't enough. Femka peeked with her eyes to Ratchet and smiled taking his hand and wrapping her arms around his arm rubbing her face on his shoulder. He quickly embraced her back falling backwards onto the bed letting her remain on top of him as she smiled and giggled. She lifted her always blushing face from his neck and scooted her body forward to kiss him. Femka knew this was one thing she would miss the most. Her thoughts made her conscious feel greedy and shameless because of it. This was her last night, though. She wanted to make the most of what she had—and he did say she could have him as long as she wanted to. Regardless, the woman pressed on with her feelings and her "lover" did so as well. It was another night she would never forget.


	18. Back Home Again

_Author: This is the last chapter but there's still the Postlude. For those of you who have read up to this point I hope it was a nice read for you and thank you! :D_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seventeen<strong>

By seven hours into the day Femka had awoken. She had lain in bed just clinging on to what time she had left and to the man that was beside her for almost an hour. Ratchet had promised her that today they would do anything she wanted. There were no other plans he had made today and if there were any previously they'd have to wait until Femka was back home on Earth. When Ratchet woke up finally they continued to lay around at Femka's wishes and merely talk about whatever came to their minds. Truth be told (again), she didn't want to do anything today but she didn't have the nerve to say it to him. She felt content lying about with him since something like this was invaluable and so simple. Some of the best moments in her life were just spent sitting around with Alexander in a bedroom. A sigh left her mouth after she made the decision to get ready to do whatever it was she hadn't decided on yet with the others. Femka's morning rituals took longer than usual today—she was determined to slow down time. While changing into her clothes she caught her reflection in the mirror in front of her in the bathroom and stop changing just to stare at herself. Her roots were coming still but the blue and purple color seemed to shine on the remainder of her somewhat long hair. The young lady completed her tasks at last and left the room to meet up with the others who waited in the kitchen with a nice meal already prepared. That was the first gift (in her mind) for her. Femka had no idea what it was when she saw it but it looked delicious—most likely. It warmed her heart to see the three of them so happy to see her. She sat down with them and gladly dug into her food not feeling sheepish one bit and tried to talk between bites. Everyone's conversation was a brief distraction for her. Soon an odd thought poked into her brain when she was about finished with her meal. Femka lifted her face from her plate and looked over at Ratchet who was telling Clank to turn on the holo-vision set near the table.

"Ratchet, I have a question." She placed her fork down.

"Uh-huh?" His ears perked.

"What am I supposed to tell everyone when I get back home after I've been gone for so long?"

The three sitting around her all glanced at one another at the same instance and then in different directions as to think of an answer.

"I mean, I know it's kind of random to just ask this but I've been gone for months and if I come back from the desert looking like nothing's happened to me, what am I supposed to say?"

"That's a very good question…," Arlis said in perplexity.

"I can't tell them I've been hanging out in a different galaxy with aliens. They'll think I've got head trauma."

"You have a very valid point." Clank pondered.

"I guess I'll come up with something. Or maybe I will tell them the truth?" She sighed with a thoughtful look and shook her head. "I dunno…"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Even if you did tell them the truth it wouldn't affect us. But there might be some repercussions for you." Ratchet's ears motioned downward.

"Yeah, I know. At the off-chance that some people actually did believe me, I don't think I'd ever be left alone. And if they just didn't believe me, besides thinking of me having brain damage, I'll also be ridiculed until I die I'm sure." Femka exhaled with a shrug. "Whatever." She waved her hand lightly and ate the last piece of food on her plate and adjusted her glasses. "I'd rather just have fun today, even though I still don't know what I want to do."

"Don't worry about it," Ratchet smiled. "We'll just go all over by ship. You can see more of Kerwan that way."

"Alright." Femka returned the smile fixing her glasses again.

Right after breakfast Femka got ready for their departure to go sightseeing. When she was in Ratchet's room she was packing all of her things into her book bag. There was a brief moment of sadness as she just stood there and looked at the room when she pulled the zipper all the way up closing the bag. Femka bit her tongue and left the room leaving her backpack on the bed. When they returned from the outing she would have to come back for it. The woman walked down the hallway with a frown and went to the garage where the three were getting the ship ready. Femka hurried over to the ship and met up with the small group. When the preparations were complete it was time for them to take off out of the large hanger. The feeling of flight might be something Femka wouldn't miss since it still made her a bit nervous but well, it was a strange feeling that she could miss eventually.

The first thing on their improvisational to-do list was to fly over Metropolis city solely for the beautiful view. Femka was able to see most of the things beneath while on the ship and of course as predicted she took a picture of it. She wondered how much she could store on such a small device but even the technology on her planet surprised her sometimes. She could only imagine how efficient their data storage devices were! Ratchet guided the ship away from the city that seemed to stretch forever and into a different territory over some large body of water. There were even buildings sticking out of the ocean as well. The places she saw never ceased to amaze her one bit. Naturally after flying for awhile it was time to walk and explore places by foot (or by train). Unfortunately for the woman, a Mag-Train was needed at some point that required teleportation to the next line. That feeling would forever leave her body tingling. For some reason Clank enjoyed it, something Femka couldn't understand. It also finally made her realize that Clank was a robot who _could_ feel. All this time and she never knew. At one point in their walk she had asked if there was anything present on this planet that was considered ancient architecture. Ratchet answered stating that there would have been old things if they weren't always being destroyed in past invasions. A weird universe indeed. Despite all the strange things she learned it felt natural to take them in as facts now. To make a comparison from when she first arrived nothing seemed real or factual even though it was all there and tangible. But now it was so normal. Femka would miss everything about this new world she was introduced to. Come lunch time the woman was already feeling tired but food was a good pick-me-up and so was continuing on with the day with her company. But the day went on fast after that, so it felt to her this way. Maybe it was because she was anxious and didn't want it to end. Regrettably everything good must come to an end. Femka knew it was almost time when the four of them were flying back to Metropolis inside the ship. Her eyes stared out the windows and she would close them intermittently just thinking about the day and the many days before this one. The ship reached the garage within a few minutes and landed outside in the front slowly bringing Femka out of her day dream. Her head lifted and her hands took the seatbelt that was around her off and she stood up when the ship was turned off while the others did the same. Arlis and Clank stood by the side door and Femka joined them. To think, this was the last time she'd ever be in a ship that could fly into space. It was hard to swallow the idea. Ratchet joined them as well and opened the door to let everyone outside. As assumed, the mechanic gave Femka a hand off of the ship and smiled at her keeping her hand within his.

"Are you ready?" he asked quietly.

Her head nodded slowly trying to look at him, though it was difficult. He hugged her tightly and she did the same clutching her fingers tightly on his back.

"This is… a little more difficult than I thought," she said closing her eyes. "I wish I could stay or take you with me." Her voice was quiet but a smile was on her face.

"I wish I could go with you, too. But I don't really think your species would be so accepting at first," he joked.

"Hey, you'd be surprised." She smiled again and squeezed him tighter bringing out a frown on her face. Her eyes shut tighter making it harder to let him go. "I guess I should get my things now." She pulled away from him still frowning but trying to smile.

Arlis and Clank watched as Femka hurried past them going inside the building. The small robot looked up with a frown to Ratchet who seemed to have the same expression.

"We'd better get the teleporter started to see if it'll take the coordinates from my nav-unit."

Clank nodded his head and stared up at the Remilien who also gave the same gesture. The three went inside to the garage and prepared the device. Arlis started the computer up and allowed Ratchet to input the numbers for Femka's home. The computer accepted the numbers but gave no information about the area; they expected that result. Meanwhile, Femka stood in Ratchet's room as the sun continued to hide further underneath the horizon. She sat on his bed one last time letting all the feelings that she felt in this place take her over. Her hands rubbed her eyes pushing her glasses up out of the way. She felt like crying but over and over she told herself not to. Before she was ready, her hands dug through her backpack to bring out her sketchbook. She wanted to take it home with her but instead she laid it on the bed near Ratchet's pillow. With a shaken breath she exhaled deeply and stood up taking her backpack and slowly walked down the familiar hallway to the garage where the three stood in the corner by the humming machine. All eyes were on her when they noticed her entering and continued to follow her when she approached them. She set her things down next to her and shyly stared at the three in front of her and swallowed.

"So… Does it work?"

"There's only one way to find out," Ratchet replied. "The computer allowed me to enter the numbers but we'll have to see if it works. When we start the teleporter I'll go first."

"Okay."

Femka turned her head to Arlis and smiled. He was the reason this was all possible, that this was able to happen. Well, a lot of things were the reason she was able to go home but he was one huge factor in it all. The woman walked over to him and stared up at him wanting to thank him for all that he had done. She went up to him and hugged him faster than he could compute. Arlis was a tad surprised but promptly responded to her action by hugging her back with a humble smile.

"Thank you, Arlis. I can actually go home thanks to you. I'll miss you." She took her face away and looked up at him.

"I'll miss you, too. It was wonderful to have met you. Be careful on your way home."

"I'll try." She smiled.

Her grip around him loosened and her attention went to the small robot nearby. Femka sat on her knees to appeal to Clank's level and embraced him as well. It fascinated her yet again to know that he could feel her warmth while to her he felt so cold; but it didn't keep her from holding him tightly.

"Robots aren't like you where I'm from, so you've left a very nice impact on me. I'm gonna miss you a lot, Clank."

"You will be missed just the same, Miss Femka. Please, take care of yourself."

Her head nodded gently letting the small robot go and finally she stood to her feet and stared at Ratchet for a moment only to turn to Arlis who held her necklace in his hand. She gave him the signal that she was ready—as ready as she was going to be. The mechanic stood beside her as she pulled her backpack over her shoulders and stared at the portal that faintly glowed blue. Arlis put the Neroltrium stone inside the compartment and commenced to press the buttons to turn the device on. It hummed low and loudly and flashed brightly opening up the portal that would potentially take Ratchet and Femka to her home.

"The computer says you have eight minutes," Clank spoke.

"Alright, here we go."

Femka watched as Ratchet headed toward the portal and with hesitation entered slowly through it. His body was consumed by the light and he disappeared. The three stood there watching anxiously. A few seconds later Ratchet's head came back through the glowing gateway with a smile relieving everyone's worries in the room.

"It really works," Arlis said again amazed.

"You must hurry, Miss Femka," Clank urged reluctantly.

The Lombax walked back through the archway and gave his hand out to Femka. She took it slowly and looked at him sad as ever. He slowly pulled her through as she took one last look at Arlis and Clank before the light consumed her body next. Everything was bright all of a sudden. When she turned her head around she saw the sun high above and a vast desert before her. The teleporter prevailed. She knew exactly where she was standing. It was on one of the trails she rode with her bike. The feeling was so incredible it left her mouth was hanging open in astonishment. The air was humid and the wind was warm. Femka's eyes closed in disbelief but it was all real.

"I'm actually home… I'm really back home…"

She quickly turned her body over to Ratchet. Her expression was full of every emotion except a smile. She was happy to be back but now there was this moment.

"Do you live all the way out there?" Ratchet asked pointing to a town in the distance.

"Yeah, that's my hometown. I can walk there." Her head looked down at her feet. "Ratchet… I can't say goodbye." She stared at him again with gloss-covered eyes.

"I don't want you to say it, either." He let her hug him as she finally let herself start to cry. "It'll be alright." His hand stroked the back of her head. "Don't think this'll be the last we'll see each other, okay?"

He lifted her head to look at him and he smiled for the both of them as a few tears streamed down Femka's face. His thumbs pushed them away along with the strands of hair that got in the way and he kissed her deeply holding onto her arms firmly. The woman closed her eyes and clasped onto his shoulders. Ratchet gradually pulled away from their lip-lock and Femka opened her eyes. Her hand cupped the side of his face while he held her close and her fingers sifted through his fur until she took them away just to wrap her arms around his shoulders and hide her face in him. When she looked at him again he was frowning now and the young lady knew it time for him to leave. Her arms left his neck and were about to return to her sides until Ratchet kept them between him and her in his own hands.

"Be good, Femka," he said with a lighthearted smile and kissed her on the cheek soon stroking the area with his hand and began backing away letting go of her hand. "Don't get into any trouble," he continued as he backed closer to the portal. "Stay away from obsessed researchers, too."

Femka's frown grew to a small smile but her lips curled inward trying to keep herself from crying again as she watched him go further.

"And don't go for late night walks. And try not to get kidnapped. Do you promise?"

"I promise," she said quiet with a forced smile.

"Femka, don't be sad. I've got the resources to see you again. Just stay by your comm-link for now, alright? And I'll see you sooner than you think."

"Before you go, I left my sketchbook in the bedroom for you. Don't look at it until you're by yourself. I've been drawing some pictures that you haven't seen yet."

"I did something for you, too. When you're alone check the messages on your comm-link." He stepped back again. "See you later, Fem."

Ratchet smiled until finally he disappeared through the portal. Within a matter of seconds the pale, blue light dissolved and behind it Femka could see the rest of the desert. Her heart felt heavy and all she could do was stand there. She had to accept that he wasn't there anymore. Something like that was difficult for her, especially when it was the person she loved. It took her a minute to finally look back at her hometown. The walk would take her about a half an hour. Eventually she found the energy to truck on forward.

"I still haven't come up with any ideas," she said aloud. "And I forgot to change into my regular clothes, like that matters." Her nose sniffled.

Femka adjusted her backpack to fit more comfortably over her shoulders and she continued to walk onward towards home.

"What am I gonna say to my mom? She'll never believe any of this. Alexander, though… He might believe me. I've got some proof." She sighed.

The minutes passed on and Femka was finally at the edge of her town and walking on the main road as the cars drove by. It was weird seeing that now, just normal, everyday cars. As Femka stood by a light to wait for it to change, some people stared at her, most likely because of the clothing that she wore. Some may have thought of her as familiar. After all, she _was _the missing woman some were still searching for. Femka walked across the street feeling awkward and nervous. She decided to see her mother first but unfortunately a solid plan escaped her for what she could possibly say to her.

Femka stood in front of her mother's house fifteen minutes later and stared at the door with her hand ready to knock only remembering that she did live there and walked right inside. Instantly she was greeted by her small, dog. It barked at first but soon recognized Femka and began to wag its rear end with a happy cry. She was so happy to see her it made the woman wonder how long she had actually been gone. Femka knelt down and pet the whining, little creature until there were footsteps that were coming her way. A blond-haired woman came halfway down the steps and stopped when she saw what was standing in the foyer.

"Femka?" her voice gasped with a hand to cover her mouth.

"Hi, mom," Femka whimsically replied standing up.

"Oh, my god. Femka! Where have… you're back…" The woman couldn't form words but hurried down the stairs. "Femka!" she cried out and hugged her daughter tightly beginning to cry.

Femka held onto her mother just as happy to see her as well while their small dog cried around their feet.

"Oh, Femka…," she sobbed. "I can't believe you're home…"

"Neither can I," she said ironically.

"What happened?" The mother pulled her daughter out in front of her. "Where in God's name have you been? And your hair…, your clothes… Femka…"

"Oh, mom." Femka rubbed her nose. "You'll never believe me in a million years." Her head shook slowly. "I've had the most intense journey of my life."

The older woman stared at her daughter confused but Femka kept the same expression. She was looking at the young lady like she wanted to hear her story. She wanted to know exactly what happened to her daughter!

"Femka, it's been a little over three months since you've been gone. What happened?"

"Alright. I'll tell you." Femka's stare was grave. "But you need to listen and you need to believe me. Everything I'll tell you is the truth. Just let me tell you the story… You'll probably need some coffee and a Tylenol. Actually, I'll need some coffee, too. I'm exhausted."

Femka sat down with her mother in the living room and like requested she held a cup of coffee in her hands and sipped it lightly. She didn't know where to start because it all would sound weird but she started from the very beginning. Femka just eased into the story telling her mom what had happened that day when she went bike riding in the desert. Her mother's face went skeptical when Femka brought up the ship and what was inside it. Her daughter wasn't lying, though. She brought up the bright light, surely she saw that. And she did. But no one explained it or could explain what it was. It was a topic that was on everyone's mind for awhile. But Femka just continued with the story regardless. She watched her mom's facial expressions change every time she brought up a new highlight in the story or described something. She explained why her hair was the way it was and it took longer to describe and clarify than she thought. It only meant that her mom was trying to understand the story, however, as she kept questioning everything. Femka told her all about her necklace in that process which was why she wasn't wearing it any longer. Somewhere in the middle of her story she showed her mother her comm-link.

"See? This is proof. This doesn't exist on Earth, mom. And I'll show you something else, too…"

The girl pressed a few buttons on the device until the holo-display came up reviewing the pictures that she took. She amassed over five-hundred holo-pix in the time that she figured out the camera function by Ratchet's help. Femka showed her mother the pictures she took and the aliens she made friends with. Every picture was mind-boggling to her mother.

"These are real?"

"Yes. They're one-hundred percent authentic pictures of the people and places I've met and been to."

Her mother stared at a picture of a building in Metropolis in shock. Femka continued to scroll through all the photos and let her bewildered parent examine them. There were even the pictures of space that Femka captured on the communication link—those especially made her mom gasp out quietly in awe.

"Is this… is that a planet?"

"Yep. And this one's another planet, and this one's a nebula, these are artificial moons…"

Her mom just sat there with her mouth agape as Femka scrolled between photos. She let her daughter finish up her story and tell her how she got here at long last. When the conclusion came about Femka's mom stared up at her daughter from where they both sat and didn't know what to say. She had proof of where she had been but… how? It was so inconceivable for her! She continued to stare and then looked away causing Femka to frown.

"You don't believe me…"

"No, no, no, sweetheart." She placed her hands on Femka's shoulders. "I do believe you, I promise you. It's just… There's a lot to take in. I also don't know what I'm supposed to tell the rest of the family. Femka, you were gone for awhile. Everyone thought you were abducted or that you got lost in the desert. A lot of people thought you were dead." She hugged her daughter again. "I'm just so glad you're home."

"I'm glad I'm home, too." She pushed up her glasses. "I guess I need to tell the same story to Alexander," she smiled lightly with a hint of comedy on the corners of her lips.

"Oh, baby, he's been worried about you so sick. But I think you should tell him tomorrow," she suggested noticing the sleepiness around Femka's eyes.

"Yeah. I'm tired." She smiled. "I'm gonna take a shower first and then go to bed."

"Alright."

Her mother stood up kissing her daughter on the head and left the living room. Femka stood up next turning off her comm-link and she took her backpack to make the slow climb upstairs to the bathroom. It felt good seeing her home again. At the same time, though, it was all new. She had been gone for awhile and being back in her own house felt strange. She first entered into her room and smiled just at the sight. She tossed her book bag onto the bed and immediately went to the shower. Being in her bathroom was even weirder. It was simpler compared to what she'd been showering in for the past three months—she loved every second. After her blissful moment of simplicity she tiredly sauntered back to her room falling on the bed in her towel and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and turned her head to look at her communication link and remembered what Ratchet said earlier about it. Femka sat up and reached for it and fiddle with it in her hands.

"You know, Ratchet, you never told me how to check messages on this thing." She smiled and shook her head.

Her fingers pressed more buttons it as she hoped that maybe she could accidentally figure it out. A low sigh tumbled from her lips when nothing happened. She was presented with options but unfortunately she couldn't read the language. An idea struck her mind soon, on the other hand.

"Um," she spoke out, "can you check my mail?"

"You have one unviewed holo-video in your inbox," a female voice responded.

"Really? Could you open it?"

"Opening unviewed holo-video."

A blue light flickered that displayed a frozen image of Ratchet in a smaller scale. Her head cocked slightly to the side and squinted at the device and the image projecting out of it.

"Um, play video?" her voice perked.

"Playing holo-video at normal resolution."

The scale increased and Femka widened her eyes quickly placing the thing on the floor as it flickered again before playing. She sat on her bed while the image faced her and began to play.

"_Uh, well, I wanted to surprise you with something but I was having trouble of thinking about what to do, so I settled on making this instead. Right now, you're actually asleep, so, y'know, it's easier to surprise someone when they're not watching what you're doing. Anyway, I hope wherever you are as you're watching this you know that I'm still thinking about you. You've come a long way since I met you and it's gonna be weird not having you around. I'll miss having you at my hip. When this teleporter's finished I wanted you to watch this, because I just wanted you to know that even though we're galaxies apart we'll still be close together by thought alone. Heh, I… I'm not really good with saying this kind of stuff. It's a little schmaltzy. But it feels somewhat obligatory, because we've been intimate together."_

Femka chuckled and smiled brightly with a small sniffle of her nose as she continued to watch.

"_Anyway, just make sure nobody's watching this—it's embarrassing. But I never mind (or will have minded) showing that I care in public. Just in case you had any doubts, or anything like that—okay, we're gonna digress into another topic. I'll just assume that you're home already and safe and you haven't been kidnapped or you're not out going for a late night walk. I made a point to remind myself to tell you that before I see you off. I just hope that even if you're safe you're at least happy. I know this whole thing will work out fine and I'll come see you again eventually. And if you really aren't that far away then maybe we can make transmissions between locations."_

The young woman smiled warmly at the mere thought and watched Ratchet's display talk on.

"_You know, I'm really glad that you happened upon Clank and myself. If not, then, well, you know the rest. But I know that this whole thing's been pretty rough on you. I think you'll be able to see it all as an accomplishment sometime down the road, considering I know you've had such a hard time picturing things from my point of view. You've been through a lot, Fem; make the most of that. Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you. I just want you to be happy. I care a lot about you. Even before I loved you I still cared a lot for you. And even when we're apart I'll still care about you. Until we see each other again, be good, Fem and take care of yourself and don't lose your glasses. I love you."_

"Holo-video ended," the computer spoke.

Femka kept her smile only feeling her face blush and the urge to cry overcome her again. The woman fought back her tears and picked up her comm-link to shut it off finally getting dressed into her nightclothes. She got underneath the covers and rested her head on the pillow with a slow exhale. Femka put her communicator on the night stand by her bed and stared at it before closing her eyes. Her thoughts played every happy moment she could think of before she could let herself fall asleep. Her day was longer than it was supposed to be and even though the sun hadn't set yet, she wanted to pass out anyway. In due course she was off to dreamland. Her future days afterwards would never be the same again. Her dreams would forever be altered and influenced by the events that happened. Everything was truly extraordinary.


	19. The Postlude

_Author: Here's the conclusion finally. I hope it was a decent story for you. :D It wasn't very action-packed but I like a light take on things sometimes. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

><p><strong>Postlude<strong>

The Solana galaxy.

Planet Kerwan, Metropolis City.

Several weeks had already passed since Femka was returned home to Earth and Ratchet and Clank were fast back into their old routine. It had been easy to keep the business up once again, especially given that there were no distractions. Arlis was no longer at that garage, however. He had left about one week earlier after enquiring to Al about a possible position as an assistant to his work. It seemed logical for the Remilien as he felt like there wasn't much else available for him because of his disposition. But the intellectual alien was happy to have something going for him for now. He made a statement saying that one day he would visit his nephew. For the meantime he'd reside on Kerwan.

The teleportation device that they had used was still assembled and functional in the corner of the garage. It hadn't been used since Femka's departure. After Ratchet's return the necklace that was being used as the main source of power was in danger of cracking and it was decided that using the machine again wouldn't be likely unless there was an alternative source of energy. The mechanic kept the necklace with him instead. He remembered what he told Femka, that he had the resources to see her, but it was unorthodox. Even Clank brought it up again one day when Ratchet was wishing to use the teleporter. He was lucky no one saw them step through the portal on Earth and if he was to try it another time and someone witnessed it it could hurt Femka's race. Ratchet knew Clank was right—he was always right. It bothered him that he made such a promise but it seemed impossible to keep. For the meantime all he had were some of Femka's things and her sketchbook, one important thing. He did look through it when he was alone and viewed everything that she had drawn before she came and while she stayed with him and Clank. She even did the drawing of him that he jokingly asked her to do awhile back—she wanted him to see that one the most. There were lots of scribbles on various pages and even writing around many of the drawings, something the woman always did. They were "character annotations". Unfortunately, the Lombax couldn't read English and it left him wondering what she wrote every time.

As he sat in his room looking one night through the drawing book and he took is comm-link putting the book aside and searched for Femka's number. His curiosity forced him to consider that maybe they could keep a transmission together but the distance might be too great. With a shrug of his shoulders he tried to connect to her communicator anyway but there was no luck. A small line of holo-text displayed, "Server Not Found". His eyebrows furrowed and a grumble of annoyance escaped his breath. Ratchet wasn't about to accept defeat just yet. He continued to try and reach the other comm-link but still the same message came up.

"This is frustrating…," he said under his breath. "One more try."

He pressed the button again and for a moment the signal acted as if it was traveling through but soon cut-off.

"Hmm…"

He put the comm-link down on his lap and stared out the window for a second only soon standing up and exiting the room with the small device in his hand. Clank was awake in the living room reading one of his books at noticed his friend walking by with a determined expression on his face. It caused him to tilt his large, metal head in interest as Ratchet headed for the garage. When the door closed Clank left his spot and hurried to the garage as well seeing Ratchet walking over to one of his little work areas. It was already well into the night; he couldn't have anything else to work on or so that's what Clank thought. His tiny feet echoed off of the hard floor while he made his way to his companion. He stared up at him with a tap of a finger on his chin.

"Ratchet, what are you doing?"

"I'm gonna see if I can get this thing to have a better signal. I swear there was a second where it was trying to connect but it failed." His tail swayed.

"Are you trying to reach Miss Femka?"

"Who else?" He smiled. "I decided that for now I won't use the teleporter. But I did make a promise to her that somehow she'd see me again. So, if I can get this thing to have a little more power then maybe I can reach her."

Clank blinked his green eyes and watched Ratchet begin to take the device apart on the table. He climbed up on one of the stools and examined the mechanic's work. He watched him dismantle the apparatus and tinker around with it. Ratchet left his spot and brought more items to his table that he thought may help him in the process. It was his duty as a Lombax to improve his comm-link and to give it more accessibility to Femka's device. Neither of them were sure how long they would be standing there but Ratchet seemed to be glued to his job and he eventually took a seat and worked with what he had. Clank stood by his side and assisted him in any way he could.

Hours passed into the night and Ratchet felt like he was making a breakthrough tampering with his communication link. When he was done with it it didn't look like how it was before. There were portions sticking out with some wires, too, but the attachments put onto it were necessary for getting a strong signal. It was like a mini, Frankenstein satellite. Ratchet held out his device to Clank and the sentient bot titled his head and took it from his friend's hand to look at it closely.

"Well?"

The robot hummed in deep thought.

"There is no way of knowing for certain if it will work unless you try," he said handing it back to the mechanic.

He smiled and turned the device on with a press of one of the buttons on its side.

"You know, having something like this back on that other planet would've been helpful." His brows rose and fell.

"Indeed, although then you did not have the right resources to improve your comm-link."

Ratchet nodded lightly with a satisfied smile of agreement.

"Let's see if it works…"

He slowly input the number he had been trying to reach and watched signal from the holo-display dial out. Clank stood on the stool next to Ratchet watching in suspense as well as it looked like the communicator was having trouble establishing a connection. There was no error message yet. The signal kept moving but it wouldn't beep giving them the confirmation that it had found Femka's device. It appeared like it was stuck on a permanent load screen. Ratchet's shoulders sank when he continued to see the same display and sighed.

"Guess not…"

"Hm, I would not give up so easily," Clank said the moment a distinct beeping sound came through.

Ratchet's ears lifted and his eyes blinked holding the device up closer.

"There's a connection!"

"Miss Femka might be far away but perhaps not too far."

Ratchet smiled to his friend only hoping that maybe the Earthling would be nearby to hear the beeping from her comm-link, wherever she was. As the sound continued, back on Earth, Femka did hear it. It had been weeks since her departure but she recognized that sound. The young girl was downstairs in her house watching television late at night when the sound echoed from her room upstairs. She muted the television with a stern and confused expression across her face and jumped off of the couch running upstairs nearly tripping over herself. The beeping persisted and the woman opened up her door to see her comm-link blinking and making noise on her nightstand. Her feet hurried over and her hands picked up the small device with puzzlement. She knew exactly who it was but she couldn't believe it. Her finger pressed the button to answer the call and on the other side the voice she knew so well spoke making her lips spread into a smile.

"Miss me?"

**The End**


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